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THE    CARDINAL   DE    RICHELIEU 


COUNT  OXENSTIERN— COUNT  OLIVAREZ, 


AND 


CARDINAL   MAZARIN. 


BY   G.    P.    R.   JAMES, 


IN  TWO  VOLUMES. 


VOL.    II. 


PHILADELPHIA 


CAREY,    LEA   &   BLANCHARD 


1836. 


1. 


LIFE 


OF 


THE   CARDINAL   DE  -RICHELIEU. 

BORN,  1585 — DIED,  1642. 

At  length,  after  a  great  deal  of  delay  and  agitation, 
the  monarch  consented;  but  Cinq  Mars  had  rendered 
himself  so  much  beloved  by  the  soldiers,  that  it  ap- 
peared dangerous  to  attempt  to  seize  him  in  the  camp 
at  Perpignan  ;  and  Louis,  under  the  pretence  of  illness, 
retired  to  Narbonne.  There  Cinq  Mars  received  more 
than  one  direct  intimation  that  his  schemes  were  dis- 
covered, and  that  the  cardinal  had  again  gained  the  as- 
cendency: but  he  would  not  take  warning  till  it  was 
too  late;  and  when  he  at  length  determined  upon  at- 
tempting to  escape,  he  found  that  the  gates  of  Narbonne 
were  shut.  After  an  ineffectual  endeavour  to  conceal 
himself,  he  was  arrested,*  and  conveyed  first  to  Mont- 
pellier  and  then  to  Lyons.  He  was  carried  thither, 
we  are  assured  by  some  writers,!  in  a  small  boat,  towed 

*  Jane  14,  1642. 

f  Such  is  the  account  of  madame  de  Motteville,  who,  though 
not  an  eye-witness  to  this  barbarous  spectacle,  seems  to  have  re- 
ceived her  information  from  those  who  were. 
VOL.  II.  2 


60578 


14  LIFE  OF 

at  the  stern  of  the  magnificent  barge  in  which  Riche- 
lieu, in  a  dying  state,  but  surrounded  by  more  than 
royal  splendour,  proceeded  to  Lyons,  after  having  re- 
gained a  degree  of  temporary  strength.  Other  ac- 
counts, however,  make  it  appear  that  the  minister  was 
borne  by  his  own  guards  all  the  way  from  Tarascon  to 
Paris  in  a  magnificent  litter,  rendered  so  large  that  the 
gates  of  almost  all  the  towns  through  which  he  passed 
were  obliged  to  be  thrown  down  to  give  it  room.  A 
person  sat  beside  him,  on  a  low  seat  in  the  litter  itself, 
to  amuse  him  with  tales  and  anecdotes  as  he  proceed- 
ed;  and  thus,  with  eastern  pomp  and  luxury,  he  made 
his  progress  back  to  the  capital  from  an  expedition 
which  had  nearly  ended  in  his  utter  ruin.  As  far  as 
there  are  any  means  of  judging  between  these  two  ac- 
counts, it  would  seem  that  part  of  the  journey  was 
performed  on  the  water,  the  litter  in  which  Richelieu 
reclined  being  placed  in  a  barge  and  towed  slowly  up 
the  Rhone,  with  the  victims  destined  to  satisfy  his 
vengeance  following.  A  considerable  part  we  know 
to  have  been  accomplished  by  land;  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that,  in  his  state  at  the  lime,  the  cardinal  must, 
have  been  anxious  to  save  himself  from  such  fatigue  as 
far  as  possible. 

It  was  long,  however,  ere  Richelieu  was  able  to  un- 
dertake the  journey;  and  before  that  period  he  obliged 
the  king  to  come  to  him  at  Tarascon,  where,  lying  on 
two  beds  side  by  side,  they  held  the  first  conference 
which  had  taken  place  between  them  for  many  weeks. 
Richelieu  reproached  the  monarch  for  having  listened 
to  the  insinuations  of  his  enemies;  and  Louis,  with 
tears,  avowed  his  fault  like  a  chidden  school-boy,  pro- 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  15 

mising  obedience  for  the  future.  The  king  then  re- 
turned to  Paris;  and  after  a  considerable  delay  Riche- 
lieu followed,  as  we  have  seen,  in  triumph.  The 
garrison  of  Perpignan  surrendered  on  the  7th  of  Sep- 
tember, having  exhausted  every  sort  of  provision  which 
the  place  contained;  and  its  fall  was  immediately  suc- 
ceeded by  that  of  Salces,*  which  had  also  been  left,  by 
the  negligence  of  Spain,  without  the  means  of  resist- 
ing a  long  or  a  vigorous  siege. 

In  the  mean  while  the  duke  of  Bouillon  was  arrested 
in  Italy,  and  De  Thou,  Chavagnac,  and  several  other 
persons,  were  also  placed  in  custody.  The  duke  ot 
Orleans,  as  usual,  no  sooner  heard  that  the  conspiracy 
had  been  discovered  than  he  at  once  abandoned  his 
friends,  without  making  an  effort  to  save  them,  and 
sent  messengers  to  the  king  and  the  cardinal  beseech- 
ing forgiveness  and  pity.  Richelieu,  however,  kept 
the  fear  of  punishment  hanging  over  his  head,  to  in- 
duce him  to  give  evidence  against  his  accomplices; 
and,  without  remorse,  that  ungenerous  prince  made  a 
declaration  which  brought  their  heads  to  the  scaffold. 
He  was  induced,  by  his  own  pusillanimous  apprehen- 
sions, to  write  down  all  he  knew;  end  it  would  seem 
that  at  one  time  the  cardinal  was  so  convinced  of  his 
utter  undignified  baseness,  that  he  proposed  to  confront 
him  with  his  former  friends  as  a  witness  against  them. 
This,  however,  was  more  than  he  would  perform;  not 
that  abhorrence  of  the  act  deterred  him,  but  that  he 
feared  to  meet  the  eyes  of  those  whom  he  had  betray- 
ed and  ruined,  and  slunk  from  the  pointing  finger  of 

*  Sept.  30. 


16  LIFE  OF 

public  scorn.  He  obtained  from  the  cardinal,  who 
rarely  favoured  such  scruples,  a  promise  that  he  should 
be  indulged  with  merely  a  private  interrogatory,  which 
was  accordingly  pursued  by  the  chancellor  in  presence 
of  six  commissioners;  and  the  will  of  Richelieu  pro- 
nounced that  this  testimony  was  to  be  held  good  in 
law. 

As  soon  as  this  was  concluded,  the  trial  of  the  pri- 
soners by  a  special  commission  proceeded  ;  but  the 
duke  of  Bouillon,  in  whose  favour  the  most  powerful 
interest  was  made,  was  saved  by  the  wise  and  prudent 
conduct  of  his  wife,  who  held  up  before  the  eyes  of 
the  cardinal,  as  the  price  of  her  husband's  life,  the  long 
desired  principality  of  Sedan,  which  was  possessed  by 
the  house  of  La  Tour  independent  of  the  crown  of 
France.  Cinq  Mars,  De  Thou,  and  Chavagnac,  were 
alone  brought  to  trial;  and  it  would  have  been  difficult 
to  convict  either  of  the  three,  even  by  one  of  Riche- 
lieu's iniquitous  tribunals,  had  they  not  been  betrayed 
both  by  the  duke  of  Orleans  and  themselves.  The 
treaty,  which  in  the  hands  of  the  cardinal  afforded  the 
basis  of  the  accusation  against  them,  and  formed  the 
principal  feature  of  their  crime,  was,  in  fact,  but  a 
copy;  and  though  undoubtedly  genuine,  might  have 
been  altogether  fictitious.  Richelieu,  we  are  told,  could 
not  even  prove  whence  it  came,  and  thus  it  might  have 
been  either  manufactured  by  himself  or  by  some  other 
enemy  of  the  accused.  The  duke  of  Orleans,  how- 
ever, established  its  genuineness;  and  lest  his  testimony 
should  not  be  sufficient,  the  prisoners  were  induced  by 
the  basest  means  to  criminate  each  other.  Cinq  Mars 
was  informed  that  De  Thou  had  given  evidence  against 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  17 

him,  and,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  was  also  offered  his 
own  life  on  the  condition  of  making  a  full  confession. 
He  was  thus  brought  to  avow  all,  acknowledging  that 
De  Thou  had  known  the  treaty  entered  into  w7ith 
Spain  ;  but  adding  many  particulars,  which  proved  the 
innocence  of  his  unfortunate  friend  in  every  other  re- 
spect. This  was  sufficient:  De  Thou,  confronted  with 
Cinq  Mars,  and  fearing  the  torture  with  which  he  was 
threatened,  acknowledged  that  he  had  known  the  ex- 
istence of  such  a  treaty,  but  declared,  as  his  friend  had 
done  before,  that  he  had  used  every  means  in  his  power 
to  dissuade  the  conspirators  from  every  criminal  pro- 
ceeding. Of  the  guilt  of  Cinq  Mars  there  could  be  no 
doubt,  and  his  doom  had  been  fixed  by  his  own  con- 
fession; but  in  regard  to  De  Thou  much  difficulty  arose, 
even  amongst  the  creatures  of  Richelieu,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  judge  him.  The  attorney-general,  how- 
ever, discovered  a  law  of  Louis  XI.  by  which  every 
one  who  did  not  divulge  any  treasonable  matter  which 
they  heard  were  to  be  held  guilty  of  treason  them- 
selves, and  upon  it  De  Thou  was  condemned,  as  well 
as  Cinq  Mars. 

Of  course,  no  regard  was  paid  to  the  promises  by 
which  the  grand  ecuyer  had  been  beguiled;  and,  with- 
out any  delay,  the  unhappy  men  were  brought  to  the 
block  in  the  great  square  of  Lyons.  Both  died  very 
generally  regretted,  for  Cinq  Mars,  by  personal  graces 
and  popular  accomplishments,  had  won  the  hearts  of 
the  multitude  during  his  continuance  in  favour;  and 
De  Thou  possessed  those  higher  qualities  of  the  mind 
which  command  respectduring  life,  and  win  reverential 
love  to  dwell   with  the  memory  of  the  dead  in  the 


* 


18  LIFE  OF 

hearts  of  all  men.  The  only  person  tried  with  Cinq 
Mars  and  De  Thou  was  Chavagnac,  a  protestant,  who 
had  fought  gallantly  under  the  duke  de  Rohan,  and  had 
since  attached  himself  to  the  grand  ecuyer.  Against 
him,  however,  nothing  could  be  proved;  and  his  in- 
nocence was  so  apparent,  that  even  the  creatures  of 
Richelieu  dared  not  condemn  him.  The  duke  of 
Bouillon  offered  to  barter  his  principality  of  Sedan  for 
mercy,  and  obtained  it;  and  the  duke  of  Orleans,  con- 
temned and  despised  by  all,  lived  on  almost  forgotten 
till  the  troubles  of  another  reign  called  him  once  more 
into  malefic  activity. 

Tidings  of  the  death  of  Cinq  Mars  and  De  Thou,  and 
of  the  fall  of  Perpignan,  reached  Richelieu  at  the  same 
time,  and  he  communicated  them  to  the  king  in  these 
few  words,  "Sir,  your  arms  are  in  Perpignan,  and 
your  enemies  are  dead."  But  the  conquest  of  Roussil- 
lon  was  not  the  only  success  which  .was  destined  to 
adorn  the  last  years  of  Richelieu's  ministry.  ,  The 
marechal  de  la  Mothe  Houdaincourt,  with  an  inferior 
army,  defended  Catalonia  against  the  whole  forces  of 
Spain.  Prince  Thomas  of  Savoy  nearly  drove  the 
Spaniards  out  of  Piedmont.  Torstenson,  the  Swedish 
general,  twice  defeated  the  Austrians,  and  the  count  de 
Guebriant,  having  captured  a  number  of  towns  on  the 
Rhine,  attacked  General  Lamboi  in  his  lines,  and  after 
a  severe  struggle  defeated  and  took  him  prisoner. 
England  was  already  plunged  in  a  civil  war;  Italy  was 
torn  with  the  struggles  of  its  petty  princes;  the  armies 
and  the  finances  of  Spain  were  both  in  a  state  of  utter 
ruin;  Austria  was  humbled  and  restrained ;  Flanders 
could  scarcely  maintain  itself  against  France  and  Hoi- 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  19 

land  ;  and  Richelieu  might  look  around  him  on  every 
side  with  pride  and  exultation,  and  say, — "  This  is  my 
deed." 

France,  at  the  same  time,  was  reduced  to  tranquillity, 
the  Huguenots  remained  in  peaceful  subjection,  no  se- 
cond rule  was  acknowledged  within  the  empire;  the 
turbulent  nobles,  stripped  of  their  power  and  diminished 
in  their  possessions,  bowed  humbly  to  the  hand  that  had 
striken  them  so  often  and  so  severely,  and  the  voice  of 
faction  was  unheard  thoughout  the  land.  Richelieu 
and  the  king  reigned  alone;  but,  ere  the  scene  closed, 
there  was  one  more  act  to  be  performed  by  the  cardinal, 
and  that  was  a  triumph  over  the  monarch  himself. 
Affecting  to  believe  that  the  king's  guards  had  been 
gained  by  Cinq  Mars,  Richelieu  refused  to  trust  his 
person  amongst  them  ;  and  on  this  pretence  he  induced 
Loui^  to  perform  three  acts,  which  left  him  but  a 
shadow  of  royalty  in  his  own  palace.  First,  he  de- 
manded that  the  king,  for  the  transaction  of  business, 
should  come  to  meet  him  instead  of  making  him  visit 
St.  Germains.  To  this  Louis  consented  without  diffi- 
culty. The  next  demand  of  the  minister  was  the  dis- 
missal of  several  of  the  most  attached  officers  of  the 
royal  guards.  The  monarch  resisted,  vented  his  indig- 
nation upon  the  inferior  ministers,  and  then  yielded  to 
the  dictation  of  the  more  powerful  mind.  But  another 
still  more  extraordinary  request  followed,  which  was, 
that  whenever  the  minister  visited  the  king  a  number 
of  his  guards,  equal  to  those  of  the  monarch's,  should 
be  admitted  to  the  palace,  and  to  this  also  the  king 
consented. 

The  end,  however,  was  now  approaching  fast.     It 


20  LIFE  OF 

seemed  as  if  just  sufficient  corporeal  strength  had  been 
afforded  to  the  great  minister  to  see  the  accomplishment 
of  all  his  favourite  plans,  and  to  plant  the  last  steps 
which  a  subject  could  take  in  the  course  of  ambition. 
The  illness  from  which  he  had  suffered  at  Narbonne 
had  diminished,  but  had  not  left  him,  and  towards  the 
end  of  November  it  returned  with  redoubled  force. 
His  strengh  failed ;  and  after  various  means  had  been 
employed  to  give  him  relief  violent  fever  succeeded, 
accompanied  with  great  difficulty  of  breathing.  It  now 
became  apparent  to  all  that  the  minister  was  dying,  and 
not  less  so  to  Richelieu  himself.  Having  caused  the 
physicians  to  tell  him  the  truth,  he  proceeded  to  per- 
form all  the  rites  which  the  Roman  catholic  faith  re- 
quires of  the  dying.  He  confessed,  received  the  via- 
ticum, and  demanded  extreme  unction;  but  the  priest 
having  informed  him  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  a 
personage  of  such  high  clerical  rank,  he  persisted  in 
being  treated,  in  all  respects,  as  the  lowest  in  the  state. 
He  bade  adieu  to  his  friends  with  the  most  perfect  calm- 
ness and  serenity,  appeared  to  regret  no  act  of  his  life, 
and  declared  boldly  that  all  he  had  done  was  undertaken 
for  the  benefit  of  the  state  and  the  catholic  faith.  The 
most  virtuous,  the  most  mild,  the  most  benevolent  of 
men  could  not  have  shown  a  greater  degree  of  satisfac- 
tion in  the  retrospect  of  his  life,  nor  more  cofidence  in 
his  future  salvation  ;  and  in  this  frame  of  mind  he  met 
the  gradual  approach  of  death  with  firmness,  which 
never  abandoned  him  for  a  moment.  During  his  last 
hours  the  king  visited  him  twice,  and  Richelieu  bade 
him  adieu  for  ever,  in  a  tranquil  voice,  and  with  a  strain 
of  eloquence  which  evinced  how  unimpaired  was  still 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  21 

the  mighty  mind  by  all  the  sufferings  of  the  weak  body. 
He  showed  himself  very  solicitous  for  his  relations,  and 
anxious  that  the  monarch  should  retain  in  office  the 
ministers  whom  he  himself  had  trained  up  in  the  ways 
of  policy;  and  although  his  whole  demeanour  proved 
that  he  in  no  degree  feared  death,  yet  he  appeared  still 
to  desire  a  longer  life;  for  even  after  his  physicians  had 
pronounced  him  to  be  dying,  he  took  eagerly  the 
remedies  of  a  quack,  who  pretended  that  he  could  effect 
his  cure.  Some  relief  he  certainly  did  experience,  and 
his  friends  began  to  entertain  delusive  hopes  of  his  re- 
covery ;  but  shortly  before  mid-day  of  the  4th  De- 
cember, 1642,  an  abscess,  which  had  been  long  ad- 
vancing in  the  chest,  broke,  and  in  less  than  half  an 
hour  Richelieu  expired  with  firm  tranquillity. 

The  king,  on  being  told  of  his  death,  only  remarked, 
"There  is  a  great  politician  gone!"  and  Anquetil  has 
declared  that  this  comprised  all  that  could  be  said  of 
Richelieu;  but  he  himself,  however,  has  said  more. 
The  king,  too,  though  he  might  not  love  his  minister, 
owed  him  a  higher  tribute;  for  weak,  unstable,  suspi- 
cious, blood-thirsty,  cold-hearted,  and  narrow-minded 
as  Louis  himself  was,  he  was  indebted  to  Richelieu  for 
everything  that  was  great  or  dignified  or  excellent  in 
his  reign  ;  and  perhaps  of  all  the  many  feeble  monarchs 
which  that  age  produced,  he  would  have  been  alone 
distinguished  by  surpassing  them  in  their  weaknesses, 
and  possessing  none  of  their  virtues,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  powers  of  his  minister. 

To  the  king  Richelieu  bequeathed  the  palace  which 
he  had  built  for  himself,  and  which  afterwards  was 
called  the  Palais  Royal,  with  a  part  of  the  magnificent 


22  LIFE  OF 

furniture  which  it  contained.  He  left  the  monarch 
also  the  sum  of  1,500,000  livres,  which  he  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  keeping  constantly  by  him,  against  im- 
portant occasions,  and  which  he  declared  had  more 
than  once  saved  the  state.  He  besought  the  king, 
however,  to  apply  this  sum  to  the  same  purposes  for 
which  it  had  been  hitherto  employed.  Besides  these 
two  legacies  he  left  immense  wealth  to  his  relations, 
and  a  number  of  considerable  bequests  to  his  friends 
and  domestics.  He  yet  is  not  charged  with  any  pe- 
culation; the  finances  of  the  state  were  at  his  death 
in  a  better  condition  than  that  in  which  he  found  them; 
the  armies  of  the  king  had  never  been  suffered,  by  his 
negligence,  to  want  supplies,  except  in  the  inex- 
plicable business  of  the  Grisons;  and  the  navy,  the 
commerce,  and  the  manufactures  of  the  country  had  all 
greatly  improved  during  his  administration.  The  num- 
ber of  offices  he  held,  and  the  rich  benefices  which  he 
accumulated  in  his  person,  were  sufficient  to  supply  the 
royal  expense  that  he  maintained,  and  to  leave  a  con- 
siderable surplus;  while  the  multitude  of  estates  for- 
feited by  conspirators,  and  the  immense  revenues  sup- 
pressed on  the  occasion  of  his  enemies  flying  into  exile, 
poured  large  sums  into  the  coffers  of  the  state. 

In  person  Richelieu  was  above  the  middle  height, 
extremely  thin,  and  not  particularly  graceful.  His  fea- 
tures were  fine  and  expressive,  with  an  air  of  grave 
sternness  which  well  became  his  character.  In  com- 
plexion he  was  sallow,  and  in  constitution  weak.  His 
greatest  foible  seems  to  have  been  vanity,  and  his 
worst  passion  the  love  of  vengeance.  His  ambition 
followed  next,  and,  previous  to  his  accession  to  power, 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  23 

it  led  him  to  many  actions  alike  injurious  to  his  country 
and  to  his  patrons.  After  becoming  minister,  however, 
his  personal  ambition  linked  itself  to  the  interests  of 
the  state;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  selfish- 
ness which  is  so  powerful  in  blinding  all  eyes  taught 
him  to  believe  that  his  preservation  and  his  domination 
were  absolutely  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  the  country; 
that  his  enemies  were  the  enemies  of  France,  and, 
therefore,  that  they  were  to  be  sacrificed  without  re- 
morse. The  sternness  with  which  he,  like  the  great 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  suppressed  the  barbarous  practice 
of  duelling  was  then  often  imputed  to  him  as  a  crime: 
but  will  now  be  readily  admitted  as  a  virtue. 

His  constant  efforts  to  humble  the  nobles  of  France 
had  most  probably  a  better  foundation  than  his  personal 
enmities.  He  despised  as  well  as  hated  them  ;  but  he 
saw  also  that  the  kingdom  would  know  no  peace,  that 
internal  prosperity  could  never  be  obtained,  nor  exter- 
nal policy  be  rendered  effectual,  so  long  as  a  body  of 
men  so  unprincipled  as  the  French  nobles  then  undoubt- 
edly were,  could  at  any  time  ravage  the  country,  inter- 
rupt commerce,  put  a  stop  to  industry,  and  occupy  the 
forces  of  the  kingdom  at  their  pleasure.  To  correct 
such  an  evil  state  of  things,  we  find  that  he  pursued, 
with  undeviating  steadiness,  his  purpose  of  lowering 
the  power  and  changing  the  habits  of  the  French  no- 
bility. Had  he  possessed  the  higher  purposes  of  the 
Christian  and  the  philosopher,  he  might  have  striven 
to  purify  and  ennoble  the  minds,  to  elevate  and  dignify 
the  character,  of  those  whose  vices  were  even  more 
dangerous  to  the  state  than  their  power.  It  is  probable, 
indeed,  that  the  best  directed  efforts  would  have  been 


24  LIFE  OF 

ineffectual ;  but  the  character  of  the  policy  of  that  age 
was  rather  physical  than  moral.  In  no  country, 
except  England,  did  high  enthusiasms  or  glorious  aspir- 
ations either  inspire  the  people  or  support  the  govern- 
ment; and  Richelieu's  endeavours  were  confined  to 
crushing  the  power  of  the  great  nobles,  and  depriving 
them  of  all  influence  in  the  state,  without  one  effort  to 
render  them  just,  wise,  or  patriotic.  He  took  means 
to  reduce  the  number  of  their  followers,  to  diminish 
their  fortunes,  to  seize  upon  their  strong  holds,  to  drive 
them  from  their  castles  to  the  court,  and  to  make  them 
the  dependents  upon  the  royal  bounty,  rather  than  the 
opponents  of  the  royal  will. 

By  so  doing,  however,  he  wrought  a  great  change 
in  society,  against  which  he  forgot  to  provide  any 
counteraction.  He  destroyed  the  equipoise  as  it  then 
existed,  and  failed  to  substitute  anything  which  might 
restore  it  at  an  after  period.  Had  he  been  disposed 
to  create  a  counterbalancing  power  in  order  to  check  the 
great  influence  he  cast  suddenly  into  the  hands  of  the 
people  by  the  debasement  of  the  privileged  classes,  the 
elements  were  ready  for  his  purpose  in  the  three  great 
councils,  the  parliament,  the  notables,  and  the  states- 
general,  and  from  these  he  might  have  raised  an  insti- 
tution which  would  have  guarded  France  against  sudden 
convulsions.  It  was,  perhaps,  too  much,  however,  to 
expect  that  he  should  foresee  all  the  consequences  to 
which  his  acts  gave  rise  ;  and  as  he  did  not  degrade  the 
French  nobility  so  low  by  a  thousand  degrees  as  they 
afterwards  degraded  themselves,  but  only  put  them  in 
the  way  to  sink  lower  and  lower,  it  would  have  been 
enough  had  he  not  broken  down  also  the  only  other  bar- 


I 
THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  25 

rier  between  the  throne  and  the  people.  But  his  des- 
potic character  would  bear  no  opposition ;  he  set  the 
example  of  violating  the  laws  by  trampling  upon  all 
the  privileges  of  the  parliament,  and  showed  France 
how  frail  was  that  barrier  to  which  men  were  accus- 
tomed to  look  for  protection  against  tyranny. 

The  history  of  his  dealings  with  the  people  in  gene- 
ral presents  a  contrariety  in  the  two  great  objects  which 
he  pursued  unremittingly  through  his  ministry.  He 
first,  and  above  all  things,  sought  to  render  the  mo- 
narchs  of  France  utterly  despotic,  and  at  the  same  time 
strove  to  civilise,  to  enlighten  and  to  enrich  the  nation ; 
forgetting  that  a  prosperous  and  well-instructed  people 
are  the  last  tamely  to  endure  a  despotism;  that  it  is 
only  while  the  great  mass  is  plunged  in  one  or  other  of 
the  two  sorts  of  barbarism,  the  barbarism  of  ignorance 
or  the  barbarism  of  corruption,  that  absolute  power  can 
be  tolerated.  The  cause  of  this  contrariety  may  be 
sought  in  the  struggle  of  the  clear-sighted  politician  with 
the  ambitious  tyrannical  man;  and,  in  his  efforts  towards 
the  attainment  of  each  of  the  great  ends  that  he  proposed 
to  himself,  traces  of  the  same  struggle  may  be  found. 
His  best  endeavours  for  enlightening  the  nation  ;  his 
patronage  of  sciences,  literature,  and  arts  ;  his  attempts 
to  extend  the  commerce  of  France,  and  to  generate  a 
spirit  of  productive  industry  amongst  the  people,  are  all 
chequered  with  traits  of  an  arbitrary  disposition;  and 
at  the  same  time  in  almost  all  of  his  most  odious  acts  of 
tyranny  we  see  the  strong,  vigorous,  and,  in  one  sense, 
philosophical  mind  of  the  statesman,  tempering,  guiding, 
and  sometimes  overpowering  the  vengeful  passions  of 
the  tyrannical  minister. 

VOL.   II.  3 


26  LIFE  OF 

What  would  have  been  the  result  had  his  life  been 
prolonged  sufficiently  to  pursue   to  a   conclusion  his 
general  scheme  of  policy,  or  whether  he  had  any  ge- 
neral scheme  at  all,  cannot  be  told.      That  he  fixed  his 
mind,  from  a  very  early  period,  upon  two  or  three  great 
objects  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  but  whether  he  had  any 
defined  plan  for  attaining  them  is  more  problematical : 
and  it  is  not  improbable  that  his  general  scheme,  if  he 
had  any,  was  very  vague;  for  through  his  life  men  re- 
marked that   in  the   execution  of  his  most  important 
designs  he  was  ever  ready  to  stop  and  seize  any  col- 
lateral advantage.     At  all  events,  during  his  short  mi- 
nistry of  eighteen  years,  he  accomplished  several  very 
extraordinary  things,  both  in  general  policy  and  admi- 
nistrative detail.     He  gave  the  final  blow  to  the  feudal 
system,  and  threw  down  the  last  remnant  of  an  insti- 
tution that  in  its  infancy,  its  prime,  and  its  decay  had 
outlived  a  thousand  years.     He  restored  the  balance  of 
power  in  Europe,   which  had  been  lost,  by  the  ascen- 
dency of  the  house  Austria,  since  the  reign  of  the  em- 
peror Charles  V.     He  reduced  to  total  subjection   a 
body  of  men,  who,  as  a  political  and  religious  party, 
had  divided  the  means  and  paralysed  the  energies  of 
France  ever  since  the  reformation.     He  extended  on 
every  side  the  boundaries  of  the  country  which  he  go- 
verned.    He  established  and  consolidated  the  first  great 
trading  company   of  France, — the    company  of   the 
Indies.      He  founded,*  endowed  and  transmitted  to 
posterity  the  greatest  and  most  splendid  literary  insti- 

*  In  1635.    This  institution  has  undergone  very  little  change  of 
organization  since  the  days  of  Richelieu. 


THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU.  2£_ 

tutionof  Europe,  L'Academie  Frangaise,  an  institution 
which  is  at  once  glorious  to  its  founder  and  reproachful 
to  the  rest  of  Europe.  He  re-established,  increased,  and 
improved  the  royal  navies  of  France;  and  he  introduced 
into  the  army  a  degree  of  discipline,  and  into  the  com- 
missariat a  degree  of  accuracy  which  had  never  been 
known  till  li is  time,  and  which  obtained  for  the  French 
armies  many  of  the  successes  that  attended  their  efforts, 
not  only  in  his  own  life  but  long  after  his  death. 

Richelieu  possessed  almost  all  those  gifts  which 
constitute  a  great  minister.  He  was  eloquent,  clear, 
and  precise  in  speech;  and  in  his  despatches  and  letters 
there  is  to  be  found  that  union  of  great  and  compre- 
hensive views,  with  the  most  intimate  knowledge  of 
detail,  which  is  so  seldom  to  be  met  with.  His  direc- 
tions were  always  definite  and  distinct;  and  while  he 
brought  all  the  great  objects  to  be  gained  into  one 
general  group,  he  omitted  not  one  of  the  minor  parti- 
culars which  were  necessary  to  the  attainment  of  his 
purpose.  In  argumentation,  too,  he  was  very  success- 
ful. Whenever  he  sought  to  combat  any  proposal  be- 
fore the  council,  he  always  began  by  producing,  in 
eloquent  language,  all  that  could  be  said  in  its  favour, 
and  then  taking  up  the  contrary  side,  appeared  to 
overthrow  his  former  reasoning  with  regret,  and  only 
to  state  the  cogent  arguments  on  the  opposite  part  from 
a  sense  of  duty. 

Strange  to  say,  however,  in  the  theological  pursuits 
of  his  earlier  years,  and  in  the  purely  literary  amuse- 
ments with  which  he  relieved  the  cares  of  government 
at  a  later  period,  he  showed  none  of  those  powers 
which  he  displayed  in  his  political  writings  and  ora- 


28  LIFE  OP  THE  CARDINAL  DE  RICHELIEU. 

tions.  In  controversy  he  was  weak  and  subtle,  and 
as  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  works  attributed  to 
him,  he  was  in  his  literary  compositions  trifling  and 
affected.  The  instance  of  the  condemnation  of  the 
Cid,  which  he  procured  from  the  French  academy,  has 
often  been  brought  forward  to  show  the  badness  of  his 
taste ;  but  it  would  seem  that  the  author  more  than  the 
work  was  the  object  of  Richelieu's  dislike. 

He  was  keen,  penetrating,  and  rapid  in  business,  ac- 
tive, diligent,  and  indefatigable.  His  comprehension 
of  everything  submitted  to  him  was  quick,  and  his  de- 
cision immediate.  When  once  taken,  his  resolutions 
knew  no  change;  for  although  he  appeared  occasionally 
to  relax  a  part  of  those  conditions  which  he  demanded, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  always  required  more 
than  he  expected  to  obtain,  in  order  to  leave  room  for 
concession.  In  temper,  he  was  hasty,  irritable,  and 
revengeful,  and  in  the  relations  of  private  life  showed 
himself  capricious  and  unequal,  but  not  incapable  of 
strong  attachments.  His  diet  was  plain  and  scanty, 
but  in  every  other  respect  he  appeared  luxurious  and 
ostentatious.  He  left  many  who  hated  him,  many  who 
feared  him,  some  who  respected  him,  some  who  ad- 
mired him,  but  few  who  loved  him;  and  was,  indeed, 
a  great  minister,  though  he  can  hardly  be  considered 
as  a  great  man. 

The  writing  of  biography  is  often  a  sad  task,  as  it 
shows  us  intimately  to  what  height  a  man  may  rise 
amongst  his  fellows,  what  power  he  may  attain,  and 
what  deeds  he  may  perform,  without  accomplishing 
those  grand  purposes  which  can  alone  be  formed  in  a 
noble  heart,  and  executed  by  a  mighty  mind. 


*. 


LIFE  OF 

AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN. 

BORN,  1583 — DIED,  1654. 

Few  particulars  of  the  private  life  of  the  famous 
chancellor  Oxenstiern  have  come  under  my  notice; 
and  the  greater  part  of  those  which  I  have  met  with 
are  either  trifling  in  themselves,  or  of  very  doubtful 
authenticity.  The  principal  traits  of  his  behaviour,  as 
related  by  Siri,  are  contradicted  by  others;  and  all  the 
collectors  of  anecdotes,  who  swept  up  the  crumbs  of 
history  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
have  left  us  very  scanty  notices  of  one  of  the  greatest 
statesmen  of  his  age.  The  cause  probably  is,  that  the 
life  of  Oxenstiern,  unlike  that  of  his  great  contempo- 
rary Richelieu,  was  altogether  the  life  of  a  politician, 
the  individual  had  therein  very  little  part;  and  while 
the  personal  views,  interests,  and  passions  of  the  French 
minister  affected  events  throughout  all  Europe,  it  was 
the  events  themselves  which  affected  the  actions  of 
Oxenstiern. 

Axel  Oxenstiern  was  born  at  Fano  of  Upland,  in 
Sweden,  in  the  year  1583.*  His  family  was  one  of 
high  consideration  in  the  country,  its  head  for  thirteen 
generations  having  held  a  seat  in  the  Swedish  senate. 
His  father,  baron  Gabriel  Oxenstiern,  one  of  the  first 

*  A  print  of  Oxenstiern,  engraved  from  the  life  by  Miervelt,  in 
1636,  represents  him  as  at  the  age  of  fifty-three. 

3* 


30  LIFE  OF 

hereditary  barons  created  by  Eric,  died  while  he  was 
yet  in  infancy,  and  left  him  and  a  younger  brother  to 
the  care  of  their  mother,  under  whose  eye  their  first 
education  was  carried  on.  At  an  early  period,  how- 
ever, the  young  Oxenstiern  was  sent  from  home  to 
pursue  his  studies  at  various  German  schools;  and  while 
at  Wittemberg  and  Jena  was  directed  to  apply  himself 
principally  to  theology,  as  his  relations  hoped  to  be 
able  to  advance  his  fortunes  in  the  protestant  church 
of  Sweden.  This  idea,  however,  was  soon  given  up; 
and  it  would  seem  that,  before  he  returned  to  his  own 
country,  the  course  he  was  destined  to  pursue  had  been 
decided  by  his  friends,  though  few  perhaps  expected 
that  he  would  thereby  rise  to  such  a  height  as  he  after- 
wards attained. 

The  acquisition  of  foreign  languages  was  at  this  time 
one  of  the  chief  objects  of  his  studies;  and  he  obtained 
great  facility  both  in  writing  and  speaking  Latin,  Ger- 
man, and  the  modern  tongues  commonly  used  in  the 
north  of  Europe.  But  he  did  not  alone  content  him- 
self with  possessing  the  keys  of  knowledge  without 
opening  the  gates,  and  acquiring  the  treasures  within; 
and  if  the  picture  drawn  of  him  by  the  queen  Chris- 
tina, one  who  is  likely  to  have  known  him  well,  be 
correct,  his  application  at  this  period  of  his  life  must 
have  been  most  extraordinary,  to  obtain  all  the  varied 
stores  with  which  his  mind  was  enriched. 

Before  he  reached  his  eighteenth  year  he  proceeded 
to  visit  the  various  courts  of  Germany,  and  devoted 
his  attention,  with  a  zeal  which  was  well  repaid  in 
after  years,  to  acquire  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
views  and  interest  of  each  ere  he  returned  to  his  native 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  31 

land.  In  the  year  1602,  however,  Oxenstiern,  in  com- 
mon with  all  the  absent  nobility  of  Sweden,  was  re- 
called to  his  own  country,  in  order,  we  are  told,  to 
swear  allegiance  to  Charles  IX.;*  and  having  been  in- 
troduced to  the  particular  notice  of  that  monarch,  he 
was  sent  in  1606,  on  a  diplomatic  mission  to  the  court 
of  Mecklenburg.  The  business  he  had  there  to  trans- 
act would  appear  to  have  been  of  no  great  importance; 
but  his  manner  of  conducting  it  gave  satisfaction  to  the 
king,  and  from  that  time  he  was  constantly  employed 
in  the  service  of  the  state.  He  returned  to  Sweden, 
however,  before  the  year  1609,  at  which  period  he 
was  named  one  of  the  members  of  the  senate,  and 
about  the  same  time  he  married;  but  events,  both 
foreign  and  domestic,  had  been  long  advancing  to- 
wards maturity,  which  soon  called  him  from  his  do- 
mestic circle  and  his  native  country,  and  which  require 
some  brief  investigation  in  this  place. 

Gustavus  Vasa  had,  upon  the  wisest  political  grounds, 
fixed  the  protestant  faith  as  the  national  religion  of 
Sweden,  and  had,  by  a  fundamental  law,  excluded  all 
Roman  catholics  from  participation  in  the  government. 
The  throne  had  been  made  hereditary  in.  his  family  by 
the  consent  of  a  willing  and  grateful  people  ;  but  by  a 
voluntary  act  of  the  king,  with  the  approbation  of  the 
nation,  Gustavus  rendered  it  a  condition  that  no  future 
monarch  should  attempt  to  alter  the  established  religion. 
His  second  son,  however,  John  duke  of  Finland,  who 

*  Such  is  the  general  account  of  the  biographers  of  Oxenstiern; 
but  it  is  asserted  by  others  that  although  Charles  governed  Sweden 
with  undivided  authority  from  the  year  1599,  yet  he  was  not  abso- 
lutely elected  k'ng  of  Sweden  by  the  states  till  1604. 


32  life  or 

afterwards  dethroned  the  elder,  Eric,  and  succeeded  to 
the  crown,  soon  became  a  convert  to  the  catholic  faith, 
and,  on  his  accession,  gave  manifest  indications  of  a 
wish  to  introduce  the  religion  he  had  adopted  into  the 
kingdom  he  was  called  to  govern.  This  first  awakened 
the  jealousy  of  the  Swedes;  but  when  his  son  Sigis- 
mond,  who  had  become  in  his  father's  lifetime  king  of 
Poland,  succeeded,  and  at  once  evinced  a  determination 
of  restoring  Catholicism  and  oppressing  the  protestants, 
the  states  of  Sweden  prepared  for  resistance.    Charles, 
duke  of  Sudermania,  the  fourth  son  of  Gustavus  Vasa, 
put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  malecontents,  and,  taking 
advantage  of  Sigismond's  absence  in  Poland,  seized 
upon  the  crown  of  Sweden.     Supported  by  a  united 
people,  he  was  not  to  be  shaken  by  all  the  efforts  of 
Sigismond,  and  retained  the  sceptre  under  the  title  of 
Charles  IX.     Sigismond  continued  to   look  upon  his 
uncle  Charles  as  a  usurper,  and  long,   but  not  very 
sanguinary,  contentions  succeeded. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  kings  of  Denmark,  who  had 
held  the  crown  of  Sweden  till  expelled  by  Gustavus 
Vasa,  never  abandoned  entirely  their  claims  to  that 
country;  and  Christian  IV.,  the  reigning  sovereign,  a 
brave  and  skilful,  though  somewhat  headstrong  pfince, 
carried  on  the  war  with  Sweden  on  various  pretences 
with  very  considerable  success.  While  Charles,  the 
old  king  of  Sweden,  maintained  the  military  reputa- 
tion which  he  had  acquired  in  his  earlier  years,  Oxen- 
stiern  was  despatched  on  a  new  mission  to  Livonia, 
where  he  displayed  so  much  skill  in  consolidating  the 
Swedish  party  in  that  province,  notwithstanding  all 
the  intrigues  of  Poland,  and  in  healing  the  differences 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  33 

which  had  arisen  between  the  city  of  Revel  and  the 
neighbouring  nobility,  that  his  character  as  a  statesman 
was  established,  and  the  eyes  both  of  the  king  and  the 
nation  were  called  to  his  talents,  as  those  which  were 
destined  to  influence,  if  not  to  guide,  the  fortunes  of 
the  stafe. 

Surrounded  by  enemies  on  every  side,  Charles  saw 
the  necessity  of  increasing  the  armies,  and  drawing 
forth  all  the  resources  of  Sweden;  and  with  these  views 
he  called  together  the  states,  and  demanded  prompt 
and  vigorous  assistance.*  Popular  assemblies,  espe- 
cially when  they  are  not  habituated  to  the  orderly  dis- 
charge of  business  by  regular  periods  of  assembling, 
are  always  slow  and  generally  penurious;  and  Charles 
met  with  so  much  opposition  at  a  time  of  extreme 
urgency,  that,  giving  way  to  the  violence  of  temper 
which  characterised  his  family,  he  fell  into  a  fit  of 
passion  which  produced  a  sudden  stroke  of  palsy. 
Several  of  his  faculties  became  enfeebled;  but,  wise 
enough  to  perceive  that  this  was  the  case,  he  called 
around  him  the  men  on  whose  abilities  and  honesty 
he  could  most  fully  rely,  and  entrusted  to  their  hands 
a  great  part  of  those  important  affairs  which  he  had 
hitherto  conducted  himself.  The  principal  amongst 
these  counsellors  was  Oxenstiern;  and  when  at  length 
in  1611  the  king  felt  death  approaching,  he  named  a 
council  of  regency,  the  selection  of  the  members 
composing  which  was  somewhat  curious,  at  least  in 
one  respect.  His  queen  Christina,  of  course,  held  a 
place  therein;  and  Oxenstiern,  though  only  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  was  particularly  named ;  but,  be- 

*  1609. 


34  LIFE  OF 

sides  these  and  several  members  of  the  senate,  the  king 
appointed  his  nephew  John,  half-brother  of  Sigismond, 
king  of  Poland,  to  be  one  of  the  guardians  of  his  son 
and  one  of  the  regents  of  the  kingdom,  during  the 
short  minority  that  ensued.  That  magnanimous  prince 
held  the  ancient  province  of  eastern   Gothland,  with 
the  title  of  duke,  was  much  beloved  by  the  Swedes, 
adhered  to  the  protestant  faith,  was  brave  and  skilful 
as  a  military  commander,  and  displayed,  on  many  oc- 
casions, an  active  enterprising  disposition.     He  was, 
moreover,  descended   from  the  elder   branch  of  the 
house  whereof  Charles  IX.  was  the  younger  brother, 
had,  on  a  former  settlement  of  the  succession,  been 
named  contingent  successor  to  the  throne  in  the  event 
of  Sigismond  dying  childless,  and  was  in  every  re- 
spect nearer  to  the  throne  of  Gustavus  Vasa  than  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus,  who  now  succeeded.     Yet  such  had 
been  the  confidence  of  his  uncle,  Charles  IX.,  in  his 
honour  and  moderation,  that  with  wise  policy  he  had 
named  him  to  a  post  which  placed  great  power  in  his 
hands;  and  such  was   the  generous   magnanimity  of 
John,  that  as  soon  as  the  short  minority  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus  was  expired,*  he  made  a  voluntary  renun- 
ciation of  all  his  rights  to  the  throne  of  Sweden,  and 
through  life  obeyed  and  served  his  cousin  with  the  zeal 
and  affection  of  a  friend  and  brother. 

No  sooner  had  Gustavus  reached  the  period  of  his 
majority,  which  in  Sweden  had  been  fixed  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  eighteenth  year,  than  the  queen  and 

*  Some  writers  assert  that  he  refused  to  accept  the  guardian- 
ship of  the  young1  prince,  and  at  once  renounced  all  claim  to  the 
throne. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXEXSTIERN.  35 

Oxenstiern  called  a  meeting  of  the  states,  and  the  order 
of  succession,  as  it  had  been  settled  at  Linkoping  on  his 
father's  accession,  was  fully  confirmed,  leaving  Gustavus 
Adolphus  in  his  eighteenth  year  absolute  monarch  of 
Sweden.  During  the  assembly  of  the  states,  Oxenstiern 
acted  throughout  as  the  director  of  the  young  king's 
councils;  and  about  this  time  also  was  raised  to  the 
office  of  chancellor  of  the  kingdom  of  Sweden. 

The  task  of  prime  minister,  which  was,  in  fact,  that 
which  Oxenstiern  had  now  to  fulfil,  was  not  without 
manifold  difficulties  in  Sweden  at  this  epoch.  Russia, 
allied  with  Poland,  and  having  chosen  the  son  of  Sigis- 
mond  as  czar,  threatened  to  overwhelm  the  dominions 
of  Gustavus  on  the  one  hand,  while  Denmark,  under 
Christian,  continued  the  war  fiercely  on  the  frontiers 
and  in  the  Baltic.  Gustavus  almost  immediately  on 
his  accession  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  forces,  and 
prepared  to  carry  on  hostilities  vigorously  against  the 
persevering  enemies  of  Sweden;  but  his  campaigns  on 
the  Danish  border,  though  success  often  attended  par- 
ticular enterprises,  were  not  upon  the  whole  advan- 
tageous to  Sweden. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1612,  however,  the  En- 
glish ambassadors  at  the  courts  of  the  two  kingdoms 
endeavoured,  by  order  of  their  sovereign,  to  bring 
about  a  peace  between  Gustavus  Adolphus  and  the 
Danish  king;  and  Oxenstiern  was  appointed  to  con- 
duct the  negotiations  on  the  part  of  the  young  monarch. 
Extraordinary  delays  protracted  the  discussions  for 
months:  and  it  is  laughable  to  find  that  the  principal 
causes  of  a  dispute  in  consequence  of  which  so  much 
blood  had  been  shed,  and  so  much  misery  entailed 


36  LIFE  OF 

upon  both  countries,  were  points  of  heraldry  and  pre- 
cedence, insignificant,  unworthy,  and  absurd.  Such 
considerations,  however,  were  at  that  time  held  as  very 
weighty  by  the  northern  nations;  and  during  the  course 
of  the  negotiations  themselves,  we  find  curious  in- 
stances of  tenacity  in  regard  to  etiquette,  which  delay- 
ed for  some  time  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty.  An- 
struther,  ambassador  from  England  at  the  court  of 
Denmark,  proceeded  to  the  place  of  conference,  for 
the  purpose  of  mediating  between  the  belligerants 
conjointly  with  sir  John  Merick,  and  Spence,  the 
English  envoy  of  Sweden.  No  sooner  did  he  arrive, 
however,  than  he  sent  his  secretary  to  Spence  to  beg 
that  diplomatist  to  call  upon  him,  as  the  king  of  Den- 
mark had  prohibited  him  from  rendering  the  first  visit 
to  an  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Sweden.  Spence  re- 
ferred the  demand  to  Oxenstiern;  who  replied  angrily, 
that  Denmark  had  no  real,  nor  even  apparent,*  supe- 
riority over  Sweden,  and  he  would  not  suffer  Spence 
to  comply.  It  was  at  length  arranged,  however,  that 
the  two  ambassadors  should  meet  in  a  tent,  half  way 
between  the  Danish  and  Swedish  quarters,  and  the  ne- 
gotiation then  proceeded. 

Oxenstiern  displayed  infinite  skill  in  the  whole  of 
the  ensuing  transactions,  suffering  Denmark  to  gain  by 
slow  degrees  some  of  the  ceremonial  advantages  for 
which  she  strove,  while  he  obtained  for  Sweden  the 
restitution  of  all  the  places  which  had  been  taken  from 
her,  except  one,  which  was  also  to  be  restored  on  the 
payment  of  a  sum  of  money.  Several  particulars  of 
small  importance  delayed  the  conclusion  of  the  treaty 
for  some  time  after  the  principal  terms  were  agreed 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  37 

upon  ;  but  it  was  signed  in  the  beginning  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,*  and  left  Sweden  free  to  oppose  the  efforts 
of  Russia  and  Poland.     Not  contented,  however,  with 
having  thus  freed  his  country  from  an  enemy,  whose 
proximity  rendered  constant  attention  necessary,  Oxen- 
stiern  applied  himself  to  strengthen  the  power  of  his 
sovereign  by  foreign  alliances;  and  sent  ambassadors 
to  Holland,  in  order  to  negotiate  a  defensive  and  com- 
mercial treaty  with  the  States  General;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  the  warlike  monarch  under  whom  he  acted 
obtained  permission  to  raise  two  bodies  of  auxiliaries 
in  Scotland  and  the  Low  Countries. 

A  number  of  excellent  fiscal  regulations  and  internal 
arrangements  were  made  about  this  time  in  Sweden, 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  commerce   and   manu- 
factures,   curtailing   the    expenses   of  law    suits,    and 
withdrawing  the  youth   of  the  country  from  foreign 
universities  to  that  of  Upsal,  an  institution  which  both 
the  king  and  the  minister  did   all  in  their  power  to 
improve  and  support.     It  is  difficult,  however,  to  dis- 
tinguish, with  any  certainty,   which  of  the  wise  laws 
that  we  now  find  promulgated  emanated  from  Gustavus 
Adolphus  himself,  which  from  Oxenstiern.    In  almost 
every  other  country  at  that  epoch  appeared  a  sovereign 
and   a    favourite   of  very    different   powers;  and  the 
acts   of  the  one  are  generally  easily  separated  from 
those  of  the  other.      In  England,  indeed,  the  monarch 
and  the  favourite  were  equally  weak  ;  but  in   France 
and  Spain  the  effects  of  Richelieu's  sagacity  and  Oli- 
varez's  activity  were  at  once  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  proceedings  of  their  imbecile  and  indolent  masters. 

*  Jan.  19,  1613. 
VOL.   II.  4 


38  LIFE  OF 

Oxenstiern  and  Gustavus  Adolphus,  however,  approach- 
ed each  other  so  nearly  in  character,  their  objects  were 
so  much  the  same,  and  their  union  of  purpose  and  effort 
was  so  complete,  that,  except  in  military  proceedings, 
it  is  seldom  possible  to  ascertain  what  act  sprang  from 
the  mind  of  Gustavus  alone,  what  originated  in  the 
suggestions  of  Oxenstiern. 

In   1614  the  chancellor,  after  having  executed  an 
embassy  to  the  court  of  Denmark,  in  order  to  explain 
the  motives  of  the  approaching  contest  between  Gus- 
tavus and  the  czar,  accompanied  the  monarch  in  his 
expedition  against  Russia,   and  there,  together  with 
his  master,  studied  more  scientifically  the  art  of  war, 
under  the  famous  De  la  Gardie.     The  advantages  ob- 
tained by  the  Swedish  arms  were  not  particularly  bril- 
liant; but  before  the  conclusion  of  the  following  year, 
Russia  was  well  inclined  to  listen  to  the  terms  of  paci- 
fication proposed  by  the  ambassadors  of  Holland  and 
England;    and,    after   long    discussions,  a  treaty  was 
ultimately  agreed  upon   at   Stolborn,*  by  which  the 
czar  finally  ceded  to  Sweden  the  whole  of  the  sea-coast 
of  Carelia  and  Ingria.  In  1617  Oxenstiern  assisted  at  the 
coronation  of  the  king,  which  took  place  at  Upsal.  and 
then  aided  him  in  bringing  to  perfection  all  those  admira- 
ble internal  arrangements  which  securedtranquillityand 
prosperity  at  home,  while  the  monarch  pursued  against 
Poland  those  military  operations  which  the  proceedings 
of  his  cousin  Sigismond  now  rendered  absolutely  ne- 
cessary to  the  stability  of  his  throne. 

During   the   two   succeeding   years   the   war  with 
Poland  was  carried  on  languidly,  interrupted  by  fre- 

*  Feb.  17,  1617. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  39 

quent  truces,  and  renewed  by  reiterated  provocations; 
but  still  without  any  great  success  attending  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Swedish  monarch,  who  was,  as  yet, 
but  trying  that  strength  which  he  afterwards  used  as  a 
giant  when  a  great  opportunity  presented  itself. 

About  this  time,  however,  an  accident  which  befell 
Gustavus  had   nearly   terminated,    not   only  his  own 
career,  but  that  of  Oxenstiern.     By  some  unexplained 
negligence  a  castle,  situated  at  a  short  distance  from 
the  capita],  in  which  the  king  and  the  chancellor  had 
met  for  the  transaction  of  business,  took  fire,  during 
the  night,  and  ere  either  the  monarch  or  his  minister 
were  aware  of  their  danger  the  staircases  had  become 
impassable.     Both  were  forced,  as  a  last  resource,  to 
leap  from  the  windows,  and  then  to  swim  the  moat, 
in  which,  owing  to  the  quantity  of  tenacious  mud  that 
it  contained,  they  had    nearly  been  drowned.     The 
king  escaped  perfectly  unhurt,  but  the  chancellor  re- 
ceived  several  injuries,  which  seemed  severe  at  the 
time,  but  did  not  ultimately  affect  his  health.    In  1619 
a  meeting  was  proposed,  and  carried  into  effect,  be- 
tween Gustavus  and  Christian,  king  of  Denmark,  at 
a  frontier  town,  where,  in  the  midst  of  festivities  and 
tokens  of  friendship,  a  number  of  important  measures 
were  agreed  upon  for  the  security  of  both  countries  ; 
and  in  the  course  of  the  following  year  the  Swedish 
monarch,  we  are  told,  visited  in  disguise  the  capitals  of 
several  German  princes,  and  ended  his  journey  at  the 
court  of  Berlin.     Some  have  supposed  the  monarch  to 
have  been  actuated  in  this  proceeding,  which  was  cer- 
tainly dangerous,  by  political  reasons,  and  some  have 
believed  that  his  sole  motive  was  the  desire  of  seeing 


40  LIFE  OF 

with  his  own  eyes  the  princess  Maria  Eleanora  of 
Brandenburg,  who  afterwards  became  his  queen.  Cer- 
tain it  is,  however,  that  towards  the  end  of  the  year 
1620  Oxenstiern  was  sent  to  conduct  the  princess  to 
the  court  of  her  future  husband,  with  whom  her  mar- 
riage took  place  immediately  on  her  arrival  at  Stock- 
holm. 

To  the  siege  of  Riga,  which  followed,  Oxienstiern 
accompanied  the  king,  and  served  under  him  in  a 
military  capacity.  He  remained,  however,  always 
near  the  person  of  his  master  during  the  sieges  of  Riga, 
Dunamond,  and  Mittau.  A  multitude  of  confused 
events  succeeded,  which  would  be  too  long  and  tedious 
to  relate  in  this  place;  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  say, 
that  during  the  succeeding  war  with  Poland  Oxenstiern 
acted  alternately  as  warrior  and  statesman,  and  that, 
after  attending  the  king  to  Livonia,  he  conducted 
several  negotiations  concerning  peace,  all  of  which 
proved  ineffectual.  At  length  the  constant  successes 
of  Gustavus  Adolphus  compelled  the  weak  and  short- 
sighted Sigismond  to  consent  to  a  truce  of  six  years, 
beginning  in  August,  1629;  and  in  the  negotiations 
which  preceded  the  treaty,  Oxenstiern  showed  all  that 
skill  and  judgment  which  he  had  previously  displayed, 
obtaining  for  his  master  the  virtual  cession  of  those 
parts  of  Livonia  which  Gustavus  had  conquered,  as 
well  as  the  towns  and  territories  of  Memel,  Braunsberg, 
and  Elbingen,  and  the  strong  fortress  of  Pillau. 

Two  anecdotes  are  related  of  Oxenstiern's  conduct 
during  the  war  and  the  negotiations  with  Poland, 
which,  though  perhaps  doubtful,  may  have  a  place  here, 
as  they  do  not  in  any  degree  affect  the  truth  of  history. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  41 

On  all  occasions  Gustavus  Adolphus  exposed  his  person 
as  much  as  any  common  soldier  in  his  army:  three 
times,  during  the  war  with  Poland,  he  had  nearly  been 
taken  prisoner,  and  was  twice  wounded.  The  remon- 
strances of  his  friends  were  vain;  and  Oxenstiern. 
more  boldly  than  the  rest,  urged  the  necessity  of 
caution.  "  My  good  chancellor,"  answered  the 
monarch,  "you  are  too  cold  in  your  nature  for  me." 
Oxenstiern  immediately  replied,  "  That  may  be,  sire; 
but  if  my  ice  did  not  sometimes  serve  to  abate  your 
fire,  your  majesty  might  have  been  scorched  long  ago.'* 
The  second  anecdote  relates  to  the  ceremonial  stiffness 
of  the  Polish  and  Swedish  etiquette,  and  is  sometimes 
told  of  Oxenstiern,  sometimes  of  his  son.  On  meeting 
to  confer  for  a  truce,  the  ambassadors  of  the  two 
countries,  for  many  minutes,  maintained  a  perfect 
silence,  each  pretending  that  it  was  the  business  of  the 
other  to  speak  first.  At  length  the  chancellor  of 
Poland  began  by  saying,  in  a  tone  of  reproach,  "Illus- 
trious gentlemen  of  Sweden,  in  order  that  politeness 
may  be  upon  our  side,  we  wish  you  a  good  morning." 
To  which  Oxenstiern  replied, — "That  we  may  not 
appear  ungrateful,  we  wish  you  right  minds."*  If 
there  be  any  truth  in  the  anecdote  at  all,  it  is  probably 
applicable  to  the  statesman  of  whom  I  now  speak,  as 
I  cannot  discover  that  his  son  was  ever  engaged  in 
such  negotiation  with  the  Poles  as  to  justify  the  con- 
trary supposition;  and  certainly  never  was  so  with 

*  The  jest  loses  its  point  in  any  other  language  than  that  in 
which  it  was  made.  The  dialogue  was  carried  on,  as  usual  with 
the  Poles  and  Swedes,  in  Latin,  and  the  words  of  Oxenstiern  were 
"Precamur  vobis  bonam  mentem." 

4  * 


42  LIFE  OF 

the  Polish  ministers  said  to  have  been  present  at  this 
interview. 

Some  time  before  the  signature  of  the  treaty  with 
Poland,  Oxenstiern  undertook,  and  conducted  with 
success,  one  of  the  most  difficult  negotiations  in  which 
he  was  ever  engaged  ;  but  as  this  will  lead  us  to  the 
opening  of  a  new  scene  in  the  eventful  wars  of  those 
times,  we  must  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  state  of  Ger- 
many, in  which  the  house  of  Austria  was  rising  to  a 
height  of  power  that  made  all  the  inferior  princes  of 
the  empire  tremble  for  their  liberties  and  privileges. 

The  first  seeds  of  that  famous  series  of  hostilities, 
called,  in  general,  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  were  sown 
by  a  dispute  in  regard  to  the  succession  of  Juliers  ; 
but  they  were  rendered  prolific  by  the  election  of  Fer- 
dinand II.  to  the  throne  of  -the  empire,  and  by  the 
civil  dissensions  which  took  place  between  and  his 
oppressed  subjects  in  Bohemia.  On  his  accession  to 
the  imperial  dignity,*  Ferdinand  found  himself  with- 
out money,  without  forces,  and  without  friends  ;  his 
remote  territories  in  revolt,  his  nearer  dominions 
coldly  disaffected,  the  electors  of  the  empire  divided 
amongst  themselves,  and  a  strong  party  throughout 
Germany  opposed  to  the  religious  and  political  opi- 
nions which  he  was  disposed  to  support  wilh  tyrannical 
zeal.  Yet,  in  eleven  years,  by  skilful  but  deceitful 
policy,  by  the  improvement  of  accidental  circum- 
stances, by  the  division  of  the  electors,  and  the  suc- 
cesses of  his  generals,  he  had  defeated  his  enemies,  over- 
run their  territories,  and  annihilated  their  power  :  he 
had  quelled  insurrection  in  all  parts  of  his  hereditary 

*  March  20,  1619. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  43 

dominions;  had  completely  overawed  and  intimidated 
the  south  of  Germany  ;  had  reduced  to  despair  the 
union  of  protestant  princes  who  had  leagued  in  defence 
of  their  religion  and  their  rights ;  had  defeated  and 
forced  to  fly  Christian,  king  of  Denmark,  who  had 
been  called  to  their  aid  ;  and,  sending  Wallenstein  in- 
to Pomerania,  he  was  now  attempting  to  possess  him- 
self of  the  command  of  the  Baltic,  in  order  to  subject 
the  north  of  that  great  tract  which  lies  between  the 
Rhine  and  the  Nerva  to  the  same  bondage  whereunto 
he  had  already  reduced  the  south.  The  only  oppo- 
nent that  he  feared  was  the  young  king  of  Sweden  ; 
and,  while  he  had  been  prosecuting  his  ambitious 
views  in  the  south,  he  had  taken  care  to  foment  every 
dispute  between  Gustavus  and  his  neighbours,  sending 
reinforcements  to  the  king  of  Denmark  during  the 
hostilities  which  at  one  time  took  place  between  Chris- 
tian and  the  king  of  Sweden,  and  giving  throughout 
the  war  such  covert  aid  to  Sigismond,  king  of  Poland, 
as  to  enable  him  to  struggle  with  Gustavus;  hoping  to 
exhaust  both  competitors,  in  order  to  take  advantage  of 
their  weakness  at  an  after  period. 

The  successes  of  Wallenstein  in  Pomerania  were 
only  equalled  by  the  licence  he  permitted  to  his  sol- 
diery. But  the  town  of  Stralsund  in  the  end  opposed 
an  obstacle  to  his  course;  and  after  endeavouring,  by 
various  treacherous  means,  to  obtain  possession  of  that 
fortress,  he  at  length  besieged  it  in  form.  The  king 
of  Denmark,  however,  had  time  to  aid  the  government 
of  Stralsund  by  a  reinforcement  from  his  own  army  ; 
and  the  fleets  of  Denmark  and  Sweden  contrived  to 
keep  the  port  open,  and  from  time  to  time  to  throw  in 
supplies  and   ammunition.     Thus  the  siege  was  pro- 


44  life  or 

tracted  for  an  extraordinary  length  of  time:  but  Wal- 
lenstein,  furious  at  being  frustrated  in  his  attempts, 
pressed  it  forward  more  vigorously  than  ever ;  and  it 
became  apparent  to  Gustavus  that,  unless  the  city  could 
be  succoured  speedily,  its  fall  would  be  inevitable,  Aus- 
tria would  obtain  one  of  the  best  ports  in  the  Baltic, 
and  the  command  of  that  sea  would  be  wrested  from 
Sweden  and  Denmark.  The  king  of  the  latter  coun- 
try, defeated,  exhausted,  and  pursued  even  to  his  own 
territories,  could  afford  Stralsund  no  efficient  aid ;  but 
still,  as  he  was  already  jealous  of  the  superiority  of 
Sweden,  it  seemed  likely  that  he  would  rather  make 
his  peace  with  Austria,  and  see  a  counterbalancing 
power  rise  up  against  Sweden  in  the  Baltic,  than  yield 
so  great  an  advantage  to  Gustavus  as  the  possession  of 
Stralsund  would  bestow.  The  duke  of  Pomerania, 
too,  though  ruined  and  pillaged  by  the  Austrians,  was 
likely  to  oppose  the  views  of  the  Swedish  king;  and 
Stralsund  itself  might  prefer  obtaining  such  advan- 
tageous terms  from  Austria,  as  its  gallant  defence  was 
sure  to  command,  than  yield  itself  to  the  power  of  a 
nation  of  which  the  Hanseatic  towns  had  long  been 
jealous. 

To  overcome  all  these  difficulties,  Gustavus  de- 
spatched Oxenstiern  first  to  Stralsund,  and  then  to  the 
court  of  Denmark".  In  all  his  negotiations  the  chan- 
cellor was  completely  successful;  and  a  treaty,  offensive 
and  defensive  was  entered  into  with  Denmark.*  The 
duke  of  Pomerania  dared  not  take  an  active  part  against 
the  house  of  Austria,  but  was  found  in  no  condition  to 
oppose  the  king  of  Sweden;  and  the  government  of 
Stralsund  itself  gladly  caught  at  the  offers  of  Gustavus, 

*  May  29,  1628. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  45 

and  besought  him  to  send  the  promised  succour  as 
promptly  as  possible.  That  succour  was  not  only- 
prompt,  but  such  as  to  render  it  effectual;  and  imme- 
diately upon  receiving  notice  that  his  troops  would  be 
received,  Gustavus  despatched  Leslie,  a  veteran  Scotch 
officer  in  the  service  of  Sweden,  with  6000  men,  and 
an  immense  convoy  of  provisions  and  ammunition. 
Wallenstein  continued  the  siege  for  some  time  longer, 
but  at  length  decamped  ;  leaving  Leslie  not  only  in 
possession  of  Stralsund  but  of  the  isle  of  Rugen,  which 
the  commander  of  the  Swedes  had  conquered  since  his 
entrance  into  that  city. 

The  foreign  power  which  had  most  contributed  to 
bring  about  the  peace  between  Poland  and  Sweden  was 
France,  which,  under  the  government  of  the  famous 
cardinal  de  Richelieu,  was  now  preparing  all  her  ener- 
gies to  reduce  the  excessive  influence  of  the  house  of 
Austria,  and  to  aggrandize  the  French  monarchy  at  the 
expense  of  that  of  Spain.  In  pursuit  of  the  latter  of 
these  objects,  Richelieu  saw  that  the  troops  of  Louis 
XIII.  would  find  sufficient  employment;  and  in  order 
to  accomplish  the  abasement  of  the  German  branch  of 
the  Austrian  family,  he  sought  to  raise  up  enemies  to 
the  emperor,  and  to  supply  them  with  the  means  of 
checking  him  in  his  hitherto  uninterrupted  course  of 
success.  With  this  view  he  had  laboured  to  put  an 
end  to  the  war,  which  wasted  the  resources  and  em- 
ployed the  troops  and  energies  of  Gustavus;  and  he 
now  suggested  to  the  Swedish  monarch  the  glory  and 
advantage  which  would  accrue  to  him  from  contending 
with  the  head  of  the  German  empire.  The  princes 
of  the  protestant  union,  for  the  third  or  fourth  time, 
eagerly  applied  to  Gustavus  to  give  them  aid  and  pro- 


46  LIFE  OF 

tection,  as  soon  as  they  saw  him  free  to  grant  their  re- 
quest. The  Hanse  towns  joined  in  the  petition,  and 
offered  the  resources  of  their  wealth.  The  states  of 
Holland,  engaged  in  a  war  with  Spain,  supported 
warmly  the  petition  of  the  protestant  league,  and 
many  of  the  catholic  princes  themselves  intimated  that 
they  would  either  remain  neuter,  or  aid  the  king  of 
Sweden  to  repress  the  overgrown  authority  of  a 
tyrannical  prince. 

Gustavus,  however,  paused,  although  the  emperor 
had  acted  towards  him  both  with  open  hostility  and 
with  base  and  ungenerous  duplicity;  and  before  here- 
turned  to  Sweden  he  held  more  than  one  conference 
with  Oxenstiern  upon  the  step  to  which  he  was  urged 
by  so  many  motives.  The  chancellor  agreed  to  the 
necessity  of  checking  the  progress  of  ihe  house  of 
Austria  in  the  north,  by  declaring  war  against  the  em- 
peror, but,  unaware  of  all  the  latent  resources  of  his 
master's  mind,  he  advised  him  strongly  to  confine  him- 
self to  merely  defensive  operations.  He  represented 
to  the  king  the  large  army  which  Austria  had  already 
in  the  field,  her  vast  dominions,  her  veteran  troops,  her 
proved  and  skilful  generals.  But  Gustavus  possessed 
that  power  of  seeing — of  foreseeing,  indeed, — all  the 
mighty  combinations  which  were  certain  of  taking 
place  in  his  favour.  His  soldiers  were  few,  it  is  true, 
but  they  were  veterans  also:  they  were  disciplined  in 
a  manner  both  peculiar  to  themselves,  and  superior  to 
the  discipline  of  the  imperial  armies,  and  they  were 
commanded  by  generals  whose  skill,  courage,  and 
fidelity  had  been  thoroughly  tried.  The  support  and 
confidence  of  the  people  of  Sweden,  too,  was  sure,  and 
the  resources  of  the  country  were  great,  and  were 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  47 

easily  rendered  available;  while  the  forces  of  the  Ger- 
man protestants,  and  the  various  bands  of  independent 
adventurers  which  had  hitherto  been  generally  arrayed 
against  the  emperor,  offered  the  means,  under  the  di- 
rection of  a  powerful  and  commanding  mind,  of  coun- 
terbalancing the  superior  strength  of  Austria,  in  the 
contest  with  Sweden.  Nor  could  Gustavus  feel  within 
himself  the  mighty  energy  of  his  own  character,  strug- 
gling for  opportunity  to  exert  its  powers  upon  a  wrorthy 
object,  without  calculating  upon  an  ally  in  his  own 
genius  which  was  enough  to  baffle  all  the  hosts  of 
Ferdinand. 

The  reasonings  of  the  monarch  were  conclusive 
with  his  minister,  who  was  one  of  those  rare  men  who 
may  be  convinced;  and  leaving  Oxenstiern  behind* 
with  10,000  men,  to  preserve  the  territory  he  had  con- 
quered, the  Swedish  monarch  returned  to  his  own  do- 
minions, and  laid  before  the  senate  his  views  in  regard 
to  the  war,  at  the  same  time  demanding  their  advice 
as  to  whether  it  should  be  rendered  merely  defensive, 
or  carried  into  the  heart  of  Germany.  The  opinion 
of  the  senators  strongly  confirmed  that  of  the  king ; 
and  in  a  subsequent  meeting  of  the  states,  the  unani- 
mous and  enthusiastic  voices  of  his  people  bade  him 
go  forth  and  conquer,  promising  all  that  strong  and 
willing  support  which  a  united  nation  can  give  to  a 
monarch  beloved,  admired,  and  revered. 

An  offensive  war  was  now  fully  determined  upon; 
and  the  government  of  Sweden  applied  itself  to  use  all 
means  for  rendering  that  war  successful,  both  by  the 
preparation  of  magazines,  armies,  and  funds,  and  by 

*  Some  accounts  state  that  Oxenstiern  was  not  left  behind,  but 
returned  to  Stockholm  with  the  king. 


\ 


48  LIFE  OF 

the  conclusion  of  alliances  with  every  one  who  feared 
or  hated  the  house  of  Austria.  Ferdinand,  in  the 
mean  time,  used  every  effort  to  embroil  Gustavus  with 
Denmark;  and  Christian,  king  of  the  latter  country, 
who  was  not  well  pleased  to  see  his  young  and  ener- 
getic rival  engage  in  an  enterprise  which  had  baffled 
him  and  all  the  Danish  forces,  though  he  concluded  a 
treaty  of  amity  and  mutual  defence  with  Sweden,  of- 
fered to  mediate  between  Gustavus  and  the  emperor. 
The  imperial  envoy,  and  the  Danish  mediators  pro- 
ceeded to  Dantzic;  and  Oxenstiern,  who  was  still  in 
Prussia,  received  orders  to  confer  with  them.  The 
clear-sighted  minister,  however,  soon  perceived  that 
the  Danes  leaned  to  the  Austrian  side  of  the  question; 
that  the  imperial  envoy  had  no  intention  of  concluding 
peace  upon  terms  honourable  to  Gustavus,  or  advan- 
tageous to  the  protestants;  and  that  his  chief  object  in 
visiting  Dantzic  was  to  examine  the  preparations  of 
Sweden,  and  detach  the  Dantzicers  from  their  alliance 
with  the  king.  It  seemed  more  than  probable,  also, 
that  the  eagerness  which  the  emperor  displayed  in  ac- 
cepting the  mediation  of  the  Danish  king  was  caused 
by  the  hope  of  entangling  the  Danes  and  Swedes  in 
disputes  which  would  end  in  open  opposition;  and  the 
minister  of  Gustavus  saw  at  once  that  it  would  be  dif- 
ficult to  negotiate,  and  yet  dangerous  to  decline,  lest 
the  Danes  should  therein  find  a  pretext  for  joining  the 
house  of  Austria.  Oxenstiern  therefore  endeavoured, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  withdraw  the  imperial  envoy 
from  the  scene  of  his  machinations,  by  refusing  to 
treat  in  Dantzic;  and  finding  that  his  opponent  would 
not  conduct  the  negotiations  in  any  other  place,  as  well 
as  knowing  that  they  would  be  fruitless,  he  seized  a 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  49 

pretext  by  which  the  Danes  could  not  be  offended,  and 
declared  that  he  would  not  proceed  to  Dantzic,  alleging 
that  the  emperor  not  having  chosen  to  give  his  sove- 
reign the  title  of  king  in  his  letters,  nor  having  fur- 
nished his  envoy  with  full  powers,  it  was  evident  he 
had  no  intention  of  treating  sincerely.  He  sent,  how- 
ever, the  terms  to  which  his  master  was  willing  to 
consent,  and  which  were  no  more  than  he  had  a  right 
to  demand:  but  they  were  at  once  rejected;  and  al- 
though the  emperor  endeavoured  to  protract  the  nego- 
tiations so  as  to  gain  time  for  the  completion  of  all  his 
schemes,  and  the  consolidation  of  his  power,  ere  Gus- 
tavus  disputed  the  field  with  him,  that  monarch  was 
not  to  be  delayed  nor  deceived;  and  hastening  his  pre- 
parations, he  was  ready  to  open  the  campaign  early  in 
the  year  1630. 

In  the  mean  time  the  imperialists  had  endeavoured; 
as  far  as  possible,  to  secure  for  themselves  the  strong 
places  of  Pomerania,  in  which  district  they  easily  per- 
ceived that  Gustavus  must  make  his  first  descent,  and 
they  even  attempted  to  persuade  the  sovereign  of  that 
country  to  receive  an  Austrian  garrison  in  his  capital 
of  Stettin;  but  the  duke  steadily  refused,  endeavour- 
ing, however,  to  induce  Gustavus  to  lead  his  forces  in 
some  other  direction,  or  to  grant  him  the  privilege  of 
neutrality.  The  Swedish  monarch  positively  declined 
to  make  any  such  concession,  replying,  "He  who  is 
not  for  us  is  against  us;"  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  of 
June,  1630,  he  embarked  his  troops,  and,  after  a  tem- 
pestuous and  troublesome  navigation,  landed  on  the 
isle  of  Rugen,*  which  had  been  taken  from  the  impe- 

*  Some  historians  declare  that  Gustavus  went  to  Usedomef,  bore 
either  landing  at  Rugen  or  visiting  Stralsund. 
VOL.   II.  5 


50  LIFE  OF 

rialists  by  general  Leslie  some  short  time  before.  The 
whole  force  which  he  now  possessed  on  the  continent 
seems  to  have  been  numerically  under  30,000  men; 
and  with  these  he  prepared  to  wage  an  offensive  war- 
fare against  a  monarch  commanding  nearly  eight  times 
that  number  of  veteran  soldiers.  But,  as  it  is  not  the 
biography  of  Gustavus  that  forms  the  subject  of  this 
memoir,  a  slight  sketch  of  his  successful  career  may 
be  sufficient,  until  Oxenstiern  again  appears  upon  the 
scene. 

The  whole  of  Pomerania,  with  the  exception  of  two 
fortresses,  was  speedily  overrun,  and  the  duke  forced 
to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  Sweden.     Gustavus  then 
turned  his  attention  towards  Mecklenburg  and  Bran- 
denburg ;   but,  meeting  with  unexpected  difficulties, 
was  obliged  to  return  to  secure  his  conquests  in  Pome- 
rania, and  capture  the  towns  of  Goldberg  and  Dem- 
min.       In   the  meanwhile,   however,  Tilly  advanced 
against  him  at  the  head  of  the  imperial  army,  and  cut 
to  pieces  without  mercy  a  Swedish  detachment  in  Bran- 
denburg.    But  Gustavus  could  not  be  tempted  to  give 
the  Austrian  general  battle  under  disadvantageous  cir- 
cumstances;  and    while  the    two   armies   lay  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  each  other,  success  in  almost  all  the 
skirmishes  was  on  the  side  of  the  Swedes.    To  compen- 
sate the  loss  of  Pomerania,  by  some  advantage  gained, 
Tilly  beseiged  Magdeburg;  and  taking  it  by  surprise, 
after  a  long  resistance,  encouraged  his  soldiery  in  the 
most  barbarous  massacre  that  is  perhaps  recorded  in 
history.     Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  however,  was  taken 
by  Gustavus  by  storm,  and  the  garrison  were  there  re- 
fused all  quarter. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  51 

The  landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel  now  openly  joined  the 
king  of  Sweden ;  and  the  elector  of  Saxony,  after  having 
in  vain  attempted  to  create  a  separate  interest  for  him- 
self, and  to  gain  such  power  as  would  enable  him  to  hold 
the  scales  between  Sweden  and  the  empire,  was  driven, 
by  the  triumphant  insolence  of  Tilly,  to  submit  to  the 
former,  and  to  beseech  Gustavus  for  protection  against 
the  general  oppressor  of  Germany.     About  the  same 
time  France  concluded  a  treaty  of  alliance  with  Sweden; 
and  from  this  moment  success  seemed  assured  to  the 
opponents  of  the  empire.     Tilly,  after  having  rendered 
himself  master  of  a  considerable  part  of  Saxony,  and 
exercised  the  most  brutal  cruelty  upon  the  people  of 
that  country,  approached  Leipsic;   and  having  com- 
pelled that  city  to  surrender,  awaited  under  its  walls 
the  attack  of  Gustavus,  who  having  effected  his  junction 
with  the  Saxon  army,  now  pursued  the  imperialists,  in 
order  to  risk  a  general  battle.     The  two  armies  were 
nearly  equal  in  point  of  numbers;   and  Tilly  having 
been  induced,  by  the  eagerness  of  some  of  his  officers, 
to  abandon  the  position  he  had  taken  up,  was  successful 
in  his  attack  upon  the  Saxon  part  of  the  allied  army, 
but  was  subsequently  completely  defeated  by  Gustavus. 
The  slaughter  of  the  imperial  forces  were  dreadful: 
numbers  were  taken  prisoners ;   and  the  rout  of  the 
rest  was  so  complete  that  for  many  days  not  three 
thousand  Austrians  could  be   collected   to   form    the 
nucleus  of  a  fresh  army.     The  way  to  Vienna  and  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  the  house  of  Austria  was  now 
open  to  the  Swedes,  and  the  prospect  was  very  seductive 
to  one  ambitious  of  military  glory:  but  Gustavus  was 
something  more  than  a  mere  soldier;  and,  leaving  the 


52  LIFE  OF 

Saxon  army  to  advance  towards  the  imperial  capital, 
probably  with  very  little  hope  of  its  effecting  anything 
in  that  quarter  more  than  a  mere  diversion,  he  himself 
pushed  forward  into  the  heart  of  the  empire,  in  order  to 
destroy  the  catholic  league,  and  free  the  protestant 
princes  from  the  trammels  which  had  been  imposed 
upon  them. 

The  necessity  of  obtaining  reinforcements,  however, 
was  now  pressing;  and  G-ustavus  took  measures  to 
recruit  his  forces,  as  well  with  native  troops  as  auxi- 
liaries. At  the  same  time,  to  secure  possession  of  the 
territories  he  had  already  acquired,  he  left  Oxenstiern 
with  a  small  corps  of  troops  behind  him,  fixing  the 
chancellor's  principal  residence  at  Erfurth,  under  the 
title  of  legatus  ab  exercitu.  Here  that  great  minister 
was  in  his  proper  sphere;  and  although  his  efforts  were 
of  that  quiet  and  unobtrusive  class  which  gain  but  little 
public  attention  and  admiration,  yet  unrivalled  in  those 
times  as  an  administrator,  he  kept  constantly  open  the 
means  of  communication  between  Sweden  and  his  so- 
vereign's army  in  all  its  many  marches;  secured  the 
districts  which  had  been  freed  from  the  Austrians 
against  fresh  attempts;  and  by  his  moderation,  punc- 
tuality, and  sense  of  justice,  so  gained  the  love  of  the 
people  of  Pomerania  and  Saxony,  that  universal  re-. 
joicings  celebrated  the  anniversary  of  Gustavus's  en- 
trance into  Germany  as  the  day  of  deliverance  from 
tyranny  and  oppression. 

At  length,  when  the  king,  after  having  forced  his 
way  in  arms  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Rhine,  took  pos- 
session of  Mayence  (or  Mentz,)  and  the  queen  of  Swe- 
den prepared  to  join  her  husband  in  that  city,  Oxen- 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  53 

stiern  put  himself  at  the  head  of  the  troops  which  had 
accompanied  her  from  Sweden,  and  leaving  the  north 
in  perfect  security,  proceeded  to  reinforce  his  sove- 
reign's army.  His  march  was  through  a  country  which 
the  king  had  already  subdued;  and  on  his  arrival  at 
Mayence,  he  was  greeted  gladly  by  his  sovereign,  who 
bestowed  on  him  the  fine  library  of  the  elector,  which 
Oxenstiern,  always  the  thoughtful  friend  of  literature, 
immediately  despatched  to  one  of  the  Swedish  uni- 
versities. 

Plain  in  his  manners,  and  by  no  means  addicted  to 
flattery,  Oxenstiern's  first  salutation  to  the  king  might 
have  awakened  the  anger  of  any  other  monarch.  "Why, 
sire,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  expected  by  this  time  to  see 
you  in  the  Austrian  capital."  Gustavus,  however, 
could  afford  to  treat  the  minister's  taunt  as  a  jest,  because 
he  could  prove  to  him  that  the  banks  of  the  Rhine 
yielded  a  more  commanding  situation  for  the  king  of 
Sweden  than  Vienna  itself.  Oxenstiern  was  not  long 
in  acknowledging  that  the  monarch  was  right;  and  long 
and  important  conferences  ensued  between  Gustavus 
and  his  minister,  in  which  it  is  supposed  that  the  plans 
were  arranged,  not  only  for  obtaining  the  precise  kind 
and  proportion  of  assistance  from  France  which  was 
necessary  to  the  views  of  the  king,  but  also  for  uniting 
and  consolidating,  in  favour  of  Sweden,  all  the  scat- 
tered and  ill-combined  powers,  which  the  divisions, 
jealousies,  and  selfishness  of  the  protestant  princes  of 
Germany  rendered  unwieldy  and  ineffectual. 

At  the  end  of  the  conferences  which  now  took  place, 
not  only  between  Gustavus  and  his  minister,  but  be- 
tween the  court  of  Sweden  and  the  ambassadors  from 

5* 


54  LIFE  OP 

various  German  and  other  states,  the  king  proceeded 
on  his  career  of  victories,  despatching  his  chancellor 
to  Torgau,  in  order  to  frustrate  the  efforts  which  the 
court  of  Austria  was  making  to  detach  the  weak  and 
vacillating  elector  of  Saxony  from  the  common  cause  of 
the  German  protestants.    The  statesman  acquitted  him- 
self of  his  commission  with  sagacity  and  firmness ;  and 
the  elector  was  prevented  from  openly  abandoning  his 
friends,  though  he  was  led  by  evil  favourites  to  act 
remissly  in  their  behalf.     Gustavus'then  advancing  to 
the  Lech,  gave  Tilly  his  final  defeat  at  the  passage  of 
that   river,  and   proceeded  towards  Bavaria,   leaving 
Oxenstiern  at  Mayence  as  commander-in-chief  upon 
the  Rhine.     In  the  neighbourhood  of  that  city  many 
manoeuvres  succeeded;  in  the  course  of  which  Oxen- 
stiern  showed  not  only  considerable  military  skill  in 
obliging  a  large  body  of  troops  from  the  Low  Countries 
to  retire  with  but  little  success,  but  also  great  political 
sagacity  in  checking  the  efforts  made  by  Richelieu  to 
aggrandize  France  by  means  of  the  dissensions  of  the 
German  princes.     News,  however,  that  Wallenstein 
with  an  army  of  sixty  thousand  men  held  Gustavus  in 
check  under  the  walls  of  Nuremberg  soon  called  Oxen- 
stiern from  the  circles  of  the  Rhine.    The  king,  being 
determined  to  defend  the  Nurembergers  to  the  last, 
while  he  formed  an  intrenched  camp  around  the  city, 
had  despatched  messengers  to  all  his  detachments  and 
allies,  in  order  to  hasten  their  junction  with  the  forces 
under  his  own  command,  which  did  not  exceed  sixteen 
thousand  men.  William  duke  of  Weimar  hurried  from 
Lower  Saxony;  and  Oxenstiern  having  collected  rein- 
forcements from  the  army  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  55 

Cassel  and  the  count  palatine,  advanced  with  rapid 
marches  to  the  succour  of  his  master.  At  Kitzingen 
he  was  joined  by  duke  William,  and  at  Windsheim  by 
duke  Bernard  of  Weimar,  as  well  as  by  the  famous 
Banier;  and  then  proceeding  without  a  moment's  delay, 
he  brought  in  safety  to  the  little  army  of  his  king  a 
reinforcement  of  fifty  thousand  men,  which  at  once 
gave  the  monarch  the  advantage  over  Wallenstein.  But 
the  number  of  troops  only  served  to  increase  one  of  the 
greatest  evils  under  which  the  king's  army  already 
suffered.  Want  of  provision  was  beginning  to  be  felt 
in  both  camps  ;  and  it  soon  became  absolutely  necessary 
for  Gustavus  to  abandon  his  lines  under  the  walls  of 
Nuremberg,  and  relieve  the  town  from  the  famine 
which  was  approaching.  In  the  first  instance,  however, 
he  attempted  to  storm  Wallenstein's  camp,  but  its  po- 
sition rendered  it  utterly  impregnable;  and  after  having 
sustained  considerable  loss,  Gustavus  was  forced  to 
retire.  No  resource  was  now  left ;  and  assembling  the 
magistracy  of  Nuremberg,  he  told  them  of  his  pur- 
pose, but  at  the  same  time  offered  to  leave  them  a  suffi- 
cient garrison  to  defend  the  town  against  all  attacks, 
and  promised  to  remain  within  such  a  distance  as  to 
enable  him  to  return  and  fight  the  enemy,  if  Wallen- 
stein quitted  his  camp  to  form  the  seige.  As  a  sort  of 
honourable  hostage  for  the  performance  of  this  last  pro- 
mise, he  left  in  their  hand  the  chancellor  Oxenstiern, 
who,  knowing  the  honour  and  punctuality  of  his  mas- 
ter, willingly  remained  to  suppoTt  and  counsel  the  peo- 
ple of  Nuremberg. 

Wrallenstein,  however,  decamped  as  soon  as  Gustavus 
was  at  a  sufficient  distance  to  enable  him  to  do  so  in 


56  LIFE  OF 

safety;  and  while  the  Swedish  monarch  proceeded  to 
attack  Bavaria,  hurried  on  into  Saxony,  in  order  to 
force  the  vacillating  elector  to  abandon  the  cause  of 
Sweden.  At  the  same  time  every  effort  was  made  by 
the  house  of  Austria  to  detach  other  princes  from  the 
ill-connected  protestant  union;  and  Gustavus  found 
himself  obliged  to  turn  from  his  projected  conquests  in 
Bavaria,  and  the  prospect  of  still  further  successes, 
which  some  fresh  revolts  against  the  Austrian  govern- 
ment had  opened  before  him,  in  order  to  save  the 
elector  of  Saxony  from  utter  destruction.  Leaving  a 
small  force  in  Bavaria,  to  make  head  against  the  enemy, 
the  king  now  hastened  on  to  Nuremberg,  while  the 
main  body  of  his  army  proceeded  by  a  different  route. 
From  that  city  and  the  neighbouring  towns  he  with- 
drew the  greater  part  of  the  garrison ;  and,  accom- 
panied by  Oxenstiern,  marched  rapidly  to  Arnstadt. 

At  Nuremberg,  and  on  the  march,  the  king  and  the 
minister  concerted  various  plans  for  uniting  the  vacil- 
lating princes  of  Germany  more  firmly  in  the  league  ; 
and  Oxenstiern  received  from  his  sovereign  directions 
to  return  to  Nuremberg,  and  summon  a  general  meet- 
ing of  the  princes  and  nobles  of  the  four  upper  circles 
at  Ulm.  Gustavus  also  conferred  upon  the  chancellor 
unlimited  power  in  those  four  upper  circles,  both  in  re- 
gard to  negotiations  and  hostilities;  and  after  remain- 
ing several  days  with  the  king  at  Arnstadt,  Oxenstiern 
proceeded  towards  the  Lower  Palatinate,  in  order  to 
keep  the  princes  and*cities  in  that  part  of  the  country 
firm  in  their  attachment  to  the  protestant  union. 
While  on  his  way  he  received,  we  are  told,  a  letter 
from  his  sovereign,  in  which  Gustavus,  as  if  foreseeing 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  57 

that  his  career  was  approaching  its  termination,  ex- 
pressed his  last  wishes,  and  pointed  out  the  plans  which 
it  would  be  necessary  to  pursue  in  case  of  his  death. 
The  chancellor  had  already  summoned  a  meeting  of 
the  representatives  of  the  four  higher  circles,  when  he 
received  the  sad  intelligence  that  his  heroic  master 
had  fallen  at  the  battle  of  Lutzen  in  the  arms  of  vic- 
tory. * 

The  deep  grief  which  that  event  occasioned  to  the 
minister  may  be  judged  by  a  peculiar  trait.  Oxen- 
stiern  was  a  man  of  that  peculiar  and  happy  constitu- 
tion of  mind  and  body,  which  enables  some  statesmen, 
when  surrounded  by  the  utmost  difficulties,  cares,  and 
anxieties,  with  the  fate  of  empires  and  of  worlds  upon 
their  heads,  to  cast  off  thought  at  will,  and  withdraw 
their  minds,  when  they  wish  it,  from  all  the  tumultuous 
troubles  of  their  station.  He  boasted  that  he  always 
threw  off  his  cares  with  his  clothes  when  he  went  to 
bed;  and  he  was  never  known  to  spend  more  than  two 
sleepless  nights  during  his  long  and  busy  life.  The 
first  of  those  nights  was  after  receiving  the  news  of  his 
great  monarch's  fall — the  second  took  place  some 
years  after,  when  Sweden  lost  the  battle  of  Nordingen. 

Oxenstiern,  however,  gave  no  way  to  vain  regret; 
and,  in  common  with  every  other  Swede,  seemed  in- 
spired with  double  energy  from  the  great  necessity  of 
the  moment.  Instantly  quitting  Upper  Germany,  the 
chancellor  hastened  towards  Saxony,  in  the  hope  of 
consolidating  in  that  quarter  the  general  protestant 
league;  and,  with  consummate  skill  and  firmness,  he 
veiled  from  the  eyes  of  the  weak  and  timid  princes 

*  November,  A.  D.  1632. 


58  LIFE  OF 

with  whom  he  was  called  to  act  the  apprehensions 
which  weighed  upon  his  own  mind,  and  the  difficulties 
which  he  foresaw  arising  before  him.     His  firm  de- 
meanour saved  the  common  cause  of  the  protestant 
princes ;  for  the  first  signs  of  alarm  on  the  part  of 
Sweden  would  have  sent  the  lesser  sovereigns  over  to 
the  views  of  the  empire  in  shoals.     Duke  Bernard  of 
Weimar,  however,  who  had   taken   the  command  of 
Gustavus's  army  on  the  fall  of  the  king,  greatly  con- 
tributed to  support  his  party,  by  driving  the  imperial 
forces  out  of  Saxony ;  and  although  Oxenstiern  could 
not  succeed  in  forming  a  general  confederacy  against 
Austria  in  the  north,  he  at  least  prevented,  by  his  pre- 
sence  and    negotiations,   the    immediate   defection  of 
others, — Brandenburg,  Saxony,  and  Brunswick.    This 
being  secured,  and  having  obtained  full  powers  from 
his  native  country,  where  the  young  queen  Christina 
was  universally  recognised,  and   her  authority   fixed 
upon  an  unshakeable  basis,  Oxenstiern  hastened  to  the 
south,  in  order  to  meet  the  states  of  Upper  Germany, 
who   had  been  summoned   to    assemble   at   the  small 
town  of  Heilbron,  on  the  Neckar.     Here  was  accom- 
plished the  greatest  effort  of  Oxenstiern's  statesman- 
ship ;  for  he  was  called  upon  to  meet,  to  persuade,  to 
unite,  and  to  invigorate  men  who  were  full  of  opposing 
interests,  passions,  fears,   and  weaknesses;  to  support 
the  timid,  to  overawe  the  unruly,  to  confirm  the  va- 
cillating,  to    bribe   the   mercenary,  to  accelerate  the 
slow,  and  to  satisfy  the  jealousy  and  gain  the  assistance 
of  foreign  powers,  who  had  but  a  cold  and  remote  in- 
terest in  the  affairs  which  involved  the  prosperity  of 
Germany  and  Sweden.     A  multitude  of  all  classes  of 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  59 

people  flocked  to  Heilbron;  and,  besides  deputies  from 
universities  and  other  public  bodies,  the  representatives 
of  twelve  free  cities,  as  well  as  ambassadors  from  Eng- 
land, France,  and  Holland,  appeared  in  the  assembly.* 
Oxenstiern,  well  knowing  the  influence  of  vigour,  and 
even  of  display,  upon  such  occasions,  laid  aside  the 
simplicity  of  his  habits  and  his  constitutional  coldness, 
showed  himself  at  the  meeting  with  all  the  splendour 
of  the  crown  he  represented;  and  demeaned  himself 
with  all  the  firmness  and  even  vehemence  which  the 
most  commanding  situation  could  have  justified.  The 
general  lead  in  the  deliberations  was  universally  per- 
mitted to  himself;  and  he  opened  the  assembly  in  a 
long  and  eloquent  speech  upon  the  state  of  Germany, 
and  ended  by  showing  that  nothing  but  union,  perse- 
verance, and  activity,  could  preserve  any  of  the  pro- 
testant  states  from  the  power  and  vengeance  of  the 
empire. 

All  the  deputies  present  promised,  for  those  they 
represented,  the  conduct  which  Oxenstiern  desired; 
but  when  he  came  to  particularise  his  demands,  he 
found  at  once  all  the  weaknesses  and  bad  passion  of  his 
auditors  arrayed  against  his  views.  They  would  not 
consent  to  make  a  general  declaration  against  the  em- 
peror; they  would  not  furnish  the  necessary  supplies 
for  carrying  on  the  war  with  vigour:  every  one  had 
something  to  complain  of,  every  one  had  something  to 
demand  ;  every  one  some  new  cause  for  delay.  Oxen- 
stiern, however,  assumed  a  tone  of  authority  and  power 
which  concealed  the  real  weakness  of  Sweden:  he 
argued,  he  threatened,  he  refused  to  hear  of  written 

*  April,  1633. 


60  LIFE  OF 

deliberations;  and  he  finally  obtained  in  favour  of 
Sweden,  first,  the  general  direction  of  the  evangelic 
league  for  himself,  though  it  was  shackled  by  a  council 
of  spies;  secondly,  a  regular  contribution  to  be  paid 
by  the  states  of  2,500,000  rix  dollars  for  the  expenses 
of  the  war;  and,  thirdly,  a  firmer  compact  amongst  the 
princes  and  cities  of  the  four  upper  circles.  Added  to 
this  were  promises  of  future  indemnification  to  Sweden 
for  all  her  exertion,  and  a  proposal  to  bestow  the  elec- 
torate of  Mayence  upon  Oxenstiern  himself. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Swedish  minister 
had  aimed  at  that  dignity,  and  used  means  to  obtain  it; 
but  France,  who  sought  to  gain  possession  of  Mayence 
for  herself,  made  such  strenuous  opposition,  that  Oxen- 
stiern did  not  press  the  states  to  pursue  their  purpose. 
Although  at  that  moment  he  might  probably  have  re- 
alised the  most  ambitious  schemes  for  himself,  Oxen- 
stiern,  on  the  contrary,  instead  of  increasing  the  Swe- 
dish possessions  in  Germany,  determined  to  divide  a 
great  part  of  what  had  been  already  acquired  amongst 
the  various  princes  of  the  confederacy.  By  this  means 
he  insured  their  desperate  opposition  to  the  house  of 
Austria  in  defence  of  the  territories  thus  acquired,  and 
he  relieved  the  Swedes  from  the  necessity  of  defend- 
ing unassisted  a  vast  tract  of  country.  The  palatinate 
he  at  once  restored  to  the  heirs  of  the  unfortunate 
elector  Frederic,  who  had  been  stripped  of  his  posses- 
sions by  the  emperor.  To  the  landgrave  of  Hesse- 
Cassel  he  promised  Munster,  Fulda,  Paderborn;  to  the 
duke  of  Wurtemberg,  a  considerable  part  of  the  here- 
ditary possessions  of  Austria,  which  lay  surrounded  by 
his  territories;  and  to  duke  Bernard  of  Weimar,  a  part 
of  Franconia.     But  no  sooner  did  the  German  nobles 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  61 

and  princes  find  that  the  chancellor  was  in  such  a  libe- 
ral mood,  than  demands  of  all  kinds,  totally  subversive 
of  every  principle  of  the  Germanic  constitution,  were 
made  upon  him  with  the  most  unblushing  effrontery. 
The  honest  though  perhaps  ambitious  Swede  could  not 
restrain  the  expression  of  his  indignant  contempt;  and 
at  length,  when  some  more  extravagant  demand  than 
all  the  rest  was  laid  before  him,  he  exclaimed  aloud, 
"  Let  it  be  written  down  in  our  archives  that  a  German 
prince  made  such  a  request  as  this  to  a  Swedish  gen- 
tleman, and  that,  too,  upon  German  ground!" 

We  cannot  attempt,  even  in  general  terms,  to  follow 
all  the  fortunes  of  the  Swedish  arms,  nor  to  relate  all 
the  measures  which  Oxenstiern  used  in  order  to  pre- 
vent the  elector  of  Saxony  and  others  from  detaching 
themselves  from  the  protestant  league.  For  some  time 
the  balance  of  success  seemed  to  remain  in  favour  of 
the  armies  of  the  confederates.  In  Bavaria  especially, 
which  was  left  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  Swedes, 
by  the  effects  of  Wallenstein's  animosity  to  the  elector, 
Bernard  of  Weimar  obtained  frequent  and  signal  vic- 
tories; but  those  victories  were  for  a  time  interrupted, 
and  Oxenstiern  involved  in  very  considerable  difficul- 
ties, by  an  event  as  unforeseen  as  it  was  difficult  to  re- 
medy. The  soldiers  of  Gustavus  had  served  during 
the  lifetime  of  their  monarch  with  zeal,  fidelity,  and 
powers  of  endurance  hardly  equalled  in  history,  with 
no  advantages  but  their  pay,  and  with  that  even  often 
somewhat  in  arrear.  They  saw  the  imperial  troops 
enriching  themselves  by  plundering  friends  and  ene- 
mies alike;  but  the  contributions  raised  by  Gustavus 
were  scarcely  sufficient  to  supply  the  payment  of  his 
troops,  and  pillage  was  punished  with  the  utmost  seve- 

VOL.   II.  6 


62  LIFE  OP 


rity.  Love  and  admiration  kept  the  native  forces  of 
Sweden  in  complete  subjection  to  the  will  of  their  so- 
vereign so  long  as  he  lived ;  and  awe  of  his  talents,  as 
well  as  fear  of  his  immovable  sternness,  held  even  the 
many  mercenaries  which  formed  the  bulk  of  his  ar- 
mies in  respect.  After  his  death,  however,  when  they 
found  that  the  same  severe  discipline  was  to  be  kept 
up,  the  same  toils  to  be  endured,  and^he  same  dangers 
to  be  encountered,  while  their  pay  was  considerably  in 
arrear,  and  the  fruits  of  their  victories  went  to  enrich 
others,  discontent  first,  then  turbulence,  and  then-open 
mutiny  appeared,  in  the  army  of  duke  Bernard.  He 
paused  on  his  career  of  conquest ;  and  after  fortunately 
intercepting  the  letters  which  the  mutineers  had  de- 
spatched to  the  other  armies  of  Sweden,  to  notify  their 
proceedings  and  require  co-operation,  he  transmitted 
the  demands  of  the  soldiery  to  Oxenstiern. 

It  is  quite  clear  that  Bernard  of  Weimar,  who  was 
loved  by  the  soldiery  with  little  less  veneration  than 
had  been  obtained  by  Gustavus  himself,  did  not  exert 
himself  to  stop  the  progress  of  discontent,  or  to  repress 
the  turbulence  of  the  troops  when  they  had  once  ven- 
tured upon  disobedience.  Some  historians,  indeed,  do 
not  fail  to  point  him  out  as  the  chief  of  the  mutineers: 
and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  profited  by  his  influ- 
ence in  a  manner  not  verv  creditable  to  himself.  The 
soldiers  demanded  that  certain  towns  should  be  given 
up  to  each  regiment,  as  security  for  the  payment  of 
their  arrears  ;  and  they  granted  the  chancellor  a  month 
to  consider  their  proposal,  threatening,  if  he  refused 
it,  to  pay  themselves,  and  abandon  the  service  of  Swe- 
den. Oxenstiern  applied  to  the  duke  to  use  his  known 
authority  with  the  soldiers;  but  Bernard  replied,  that 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  63 

Gustavus  Adolphus  had  held  out  to  him  the  prospect 
of  being  created  duke  of  Franconia,  and  that  he  could 
do  nothing  till  this  expectation  was  fulfilled,  and  till 
he  was  also  created  generalissimo  of  the  Swedish  ar- 
mies.   The  indignation  of  Oxenstiern  now  broke  forth; 
and  it  would  appear  that,  in  virtue  of  the  power  grant- 
ed him  by  Sweden  and  by  the  German  states,  he  at 
first  determined  to  dismiss  the  duke  from  the  service. 
But  policy  soon  prevailed:  Bernard  had  hitherto  been 
the  most  successful  general  which  Sweden  had  obeyed 
since  the  death  of  the  monarch:  he  was  adored  by  the 
soldiery,  and  feared  by  the  enemy.    On  the  other  hand, 
Oxenstiern  had  neither  funds  to  satisfy  the  demands  of 
the  army  nor  power  to  overawe  it ;  and  he  conse- 
quently determined  to  grant  such  part  of  duke  Ber- 
nard's demands  as  would  implicate  him  inextricably  in 
hostilities  with  Austria,  and  to  refuse  him  that  part 
which  would  increase  his  power  over  the  army.     To 
the  bishoprics  of  Bamberg  and  Wurtzburg  he.  added 
Konigshofen,  and  some  other  territories,  to  make  up 
the  duchy,  which  was  to  be  held  by  Swedish  investi- 
ture; and  he  found  several  plausible  excuses,  as  the 
seniority  of  Banier,  Wrangel,  and  other  officers,  for  re- 
fusing him  the  chief  command  of  the  Swedish  armies. 
Bernard,   however,   was   satisfied;  and    the  facility 
with  which  he  quelled  the  mutiny,  in  the  army,  and 
restored  discipline  and  obedience,  spoke  loudly  of  his 
previous  negligence  or  treachery.     Such  sums  of  mo- 
ney as  could  be  procured  were  distributed  amongst  the 
officers;  and  Oxenstiern  was  obliged  to  resign  to  their 
cupidity  several  confiscated  estates.     Spanish  troops 
had  in  the  mean   time   poured  into  the  upper  circles, 
under  the  command  of  the  duke  of  Feria ;  and  general 


64  LIFE  OP 

Horn  now  separated  from  Bernard,  to  check  their  pro- 
gress. Joined  with  the  palatine  of  Birkenfeld,  Horn 
drove  the  Spaniards  out  of  Suabia,  across  the  Black 
Forest,  and  through  the  Breisgau  into  Alsace,  from 
whence  he  again  pursued  them  into  Bavaria,  where 
their  army  nearly  disbanded,  and  the  duke  of  Feria 
died,  it  is  said,  of  disappointment.  In  the  meanwhile, 
Bernard  of  Weimar,  with  increasing  instead  of  dimi- 
nished forces,  crossed  the  Danube,  and  made  a  demon- 
stration upon  Munic;  but  suddenly  turning  upon  Ra- 
tisbon,  which  was  feebly  garrisoned,  he  took  that 
important  city,  and  was  then  pushing  on  towards  Aus- 
tria when  the  approach  of  Wallenstein,  who  had  been 
equally  successful  in  the  middle  circles,  caused  him  to 
retreat.  Wallenstein,  however,  pursued  him  no  fur- 
ther than  the  Danube;  and  taking  advantage  of  a  de- 
monstration of  the  Saxons  against  Bohemia,  retired  to 
that  kingdom,  where  he  remained  in  despite  of  the 
emperor's  orders,  and  the  entreaties  of  the  elector  of 
Bavaria. 

The  inactivity  of  Wallenstein  was  not  without  a 
cause.  He  had  never  forgiven  his  formal  dismissal 
from  command;  and  he  had  long  formed  the  determi- 
nation of  attempting  to  render  himself  independent  of 
the  emperor,  and,  by  the  aid  of  the  Saxons,  to  raise 
himself  to  the  throne  of  Bohemia.  Could  he  have 
acted  sincerely  towards  the  Swedes,  it  is  possible  that 
he  might  have  succeeded  in  his  attempt;  but  his  hatred 
towards  that  nation,  as  well  as  his  peculiar  situation 
with  the  emperor,  rendered  his  demeanour  vacillating 
and  unequal.  He  was  obliged  occasionally  to  hold  out 
specious  promises  to  them  as  the  allies  of  Saxony,  on 
whose  co-operation  he  founded  his  great  hopes;  but  he 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  65 

could  not  prevail  upon  himself  to  act  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  give  any  assurance  of  his  purposes.  Such  was 
his  conduct  at  Munsterberg,  some  time  before  he  ad- 
vanced to  oppose  duke  Bernard.  At  that  place  he  had 
intrenched  himself  with  40,000  men  :  but  on  the  ap- 
proach of  Thurn  and  Arnheim  with  a  Swedish  and 
Saxon  force  of  24,000,  instead  of  giving  them  battle 
he  proposed  a  suspension  of  arms;  and  in  after-confer- 
ences endeavoured  to  make  terms  for  joining  his  army 
to  theirs,  and  marching  to  dethrone  the  emperor,  on 
condition  of  being  created  king  of  Bohemia. 

Some  time  before,  Wallenstein  had  made  similar 
overtures  to  the  French  ambassabor  at  Dresden ;  and 
Feuquieres,  who  well  knew  that  Richelieu  would  be 
pleased  to  see  any  new  apple  of  discord  cast  upon  the 
course  of  the  German  princes,  offered  to  the  imperial 
general  both  pecuniary  aid  and  the  countenance  of  the 
French  monarch  in  pursuit  of  his  ambitious  designs. 
He  now  heard,  with  doubt  and  suspicion,  however, 
that  so  reserved  and  taciturn  a  man  as  Wallenstein  had 
opened  his  views  to  the  Saxons,  and  especially  to  Arn- 
heim, who  was  known  to  be  in  the  interest  of  Austria, 
and  he  immediately  communicated  his  anxieties  on  the 
subject  to  Oxenstiern,  who  was  then  at  Gelhausen. 
Wallenstein,  it  would  appear,  had  already  found  means 
to  negotiate  with  Oxenstiern;  but  in  the  first  place, 
the  advantages  he  held  out  to  the  Swedes  were  not  suf- 
ficient to  tempt  the  great  statesman  to  risk  anything 
in  his  behalf;  and  in  the  next,  the  chancellor  both 
doubted  his  sincerity  in  any  of  his  proposals,  and  more 
than  suspected  him  of  meditating  treachery  towards 
the  Swedes. 

Whether  Arnheim,  the  Saxon  general,  was  sent  for 

6* 


66  LIFE  OF 

to  confer  with  Oxenstiern  at  Gelhausen,  or  whether  he 
spontaneously  bore  thither  Wallenstein's  message  de- 
manding the  aid  of  several  veteran  regiments  of  Swedes 
for  the  execution  of  his  plan  against  the  emperor,  I  do 
not  know;  but  the  chancellor,  without  positively  re- 
fusing his  demand,  did  not  consent  to  their  march,  and 
communicated  to  Arnheim  his  suspicions  of  Wallen- 
stein's  sincerity.  The  Saxon  general,  though  himself 
a  faithless  and  double-dealing  politician,  seems  not  to 
have  suspected  Wallenstein:  but  Oxenstiern's  clear- 
sighted penetration  and  accurate  reasoning  raised  doubts 
in  his  mind;  and  on  returning  to  his  camp,  he  found, 
to  his  surprise,  that  the  imperial  general,  in  violation 
of  every  principle  of  honour  and  decency,  had  attempt- 
ed to  entrap  and  seize  a  considerable  body  of  Saxon 
officers  who  had  visited  his  camp  upon  the  faith  of  the 
armistice  which  had  been  so  lately  concluded.  An 
open  breach  of  the  truce  on  the  part  of  Wallenstein 
soon  followed;  and  both  Saxons  and  Swedes  attributed 
his  conduct  to  treacherous  designs  against  themselves 
rather  than  against  the  emperor.  Such,  too,  might 
have  been  the  view  of  the  case  which  descended  to  pos- 
terity; for  many  parts  of  Wallenstein's  actions  are  irre- 
concilable with  any  known  motive:  but  the  emperor, 
by  depriving  him  of  the  command  of  the  armies,  and 
proclaiming  him  a  traitor,  showed  that  the  imperial 
court  at  least  judged  his  offers  to  Saxony  to  have 
been  made  in  sincerity.  Wallenstein,  still  confident 
of  his  own  powers,  hastened  to  the  strong  fortress  of 
Egra,  accompanied  by  that  small  part  of  all  his  vast 
forces  which  remained  with  him  after  the  emperor's 
proclamation,  and   eagerly  despatched  messengers  to 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  67 

Oxenstiern    and    Arnheim,    for   aid    in    his    present 
difficulty. 

The  movements  of  imperial  armies  against  him,  the 
price  put  upon  his  head,  and  his  flight  to  Egra,  were 
sufficient  testimonies  of  his  sincerity;  and  Oxenstiern, 
who  was  now  again  in  the  circles  of  the  Rhine,  immedi- 
ately ordered  three  separate  corps  to  march  upon  Egra 
from  different  parts  of  the  country,  under  the  command 
of  the  duke  of  Saxe  Lauenburg,  'the  count  palatine, 
and  the  duke  of  Weimar.  Could  these  three  bodies  of 
veteran  soldiers  have  effected  their  junction  with  the 
troops  which  still  remained  attached  to  the  rebel 
general,  the  imperial  throne  itself  would  have  been 
shaken;  but  ere  either  of  them  reached  Egra,  Wallen- 
stein  had  fallen  under  the  blows  of  assassins,  and  the 
emperor  was  freed  from  one  of  the  greatest  perils  which 
he  had  yet  encountered. 

Another  success  also  awaited  him:  the  duke  of  Saxe 
Lauenburg,  either  through  imprudence  or  treachery, 
suffered  himself  to  be  decoyed  into  Egra,  after  it  had 
fallen  by  Wallenstein's  death  into  the  hands  of  the  im- 
perialists, and  surrendered  with  all  his  troops.  Ber- 
nard of  Weimar,  however,  was  more  cautious ;  and 
halted  in  time,  cutting  to  pieces  an  imperial  regiment 
which  he  met  in  his  retreat.  But  now,  for  a  consi- 
derable period,  fortune  abandoned  the  protestants'  arms, 
and  weakness  pervaded  their  councils.  Oxenstiern 
had,  in  the  meantime,  assembled  the  states  of  the  league 
at  Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  and  endeavoured  to  instil 
into  them  some  degree  of  union  and  activity,  but  in 
vain;  and  seeing  that  greater  resources  would  soon 
become  necessary,  he  despatched  his  son  John  to 
England,  to  treat  for  further  assistance.     The  emperor, 


68  life  or 

on  his  part,  placed  his  forces  under  his  son,  the  king 
of  Hungary,  with  Gallas  as  their  real  commander ;  and 
both  the  prince  and  the  general,  anxious  to  distinguish 
themselves  after  the  fall  of  Wallenstein,  advanced  by 
rapid  marches,  and  laid  siege  to  Ratisbon.     In  vain 
the  duke  of  Weimar  and  count  Horn  endeavoured  to 
raise  the  siege  of  that  city  by  various  means.     It  fell 
after  a  vigorous  resistance;  and  the  king  of  Hungary 
and  Gallas  led  their  forces  on  to  new  conquests.     Dona- 
wert  was  captured,  and  next  Nordlingen  was  besieged 
by  the  united  armies  of  Spain  and  Austria.     The  forces 
under  Weimar  and  Horn  marched  immediately  to  its 
relief;   but  it   was  strongly  against  the  advice  of  the 
latter  general  that  a  battle  was  risked  against  the  su- 
perior force  and  the  superior  position  of  the  imperial- 
ists.    Duke  Bernard,  however,  overbore  all  opposition; 
the  Swedes  attacked   the  imperial  army  early  in  the 
morning,  and,  after  a  long  and  desperate  conflict,  were 
completely  routed.*     Horn  was  taken,  with  a  number 
of  other  officers ;  the  cannon,  baggage,  and  colours  of 
the  Swedes  fell  into  the  hands  of  Austria:  and  12,000 
veteran  soldiers  are  said  to  have  remained  upon  the 
field  of  battle. 

No  army  sufficient  to  oppose  the  progress  of  the 
imperial  forces  could  be  collected  by  duke  Bernard, 
who  fled  to  Frankfort;  and  Oxenstiern  in  vain  appealed 
to  the  princes  of  the  protestant  league  for  any  assist- 
ance. All  seemed  faithless  or  terror-stricken;  no  one 
was  prepared  to  act ;  Saxony  was  evidently  negotiat- 
ing a  separate  peace  for  herself  with  Austria;  Bran- 
denburg was  treading  in  her  steps;    and  the  whole 

*  September  6,  1634. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  69 

burden  of  supporting  the  war  fell  at  once  upon  Ox- 
enstiern. Obliged  to  decide  in  haste,  he  recalled  the 
garrisons  from  a  number  of  small  fortresses  in  Alsace, 
and,  abandoned  by  the  Germans,  applied  to  France  for 
aid,  offering  to  give  up  Philipsburg  to  that  power,  if 
she  would  instantly  march  a  body,  of  troops  to  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine.  The  cardinal  de  Richelieu  at 
once  agreed  to  a  proposal  which  he  had  long  desired; 
and  the  approach  of  the  army  of  the  marechal  de  la 
Force  restored  some  degree  of  confidence  to  the  friends 
of  Sweden.  The  French  general,  however,  acted  but 
very  inefficiently;  and  no  force  was  ready  to  defend 
the  territory  of  Wurtemberg,  which  was  overrun  by 
the  Austrian  troops  immediately  after  the  battle  of 
Nordlingen.  France,  however,  promised  to  create  a 
diversion  in  favour  of  Sweden,  by  declaring  war  against 
Spain,  and  attacking  her  possessions  in  the  Nether- 
lands; and  she  furnished  also  some  small  sums  to  pay 
a  part  of  the  arrears  due  to  the  Swedish  troops. 

Oxenstiern,  in  the  meanwhile,  laboured  by  every 
honourable  means  to  recall  the  elector  of  Saxony  to  a 
sense  of  the  danger  in  which  the  liberties  of  Germany 
were  placed,  representing  to  him  that  the  moment  for 
making  an  advantageous  peace  was  certainly  not  after 
a  casual  reverse,  and  that  the  only  means  of  saving  the 
German  protestants,  and  upholding  the  rights  of  the 
princes  of  the  empire,  were  perfect  union  and  renewed 
exertion.  The  elector  himself  was  weak,  timid,  and 
unprincipled;  his  minister,  Arnheim,  was  the  creature 
of  Austria;  Oxenstiern  was  forced  to  demand,  the  em- 
peror was  willing,  on  the  contrary,  to  grant;  and  under 
these  circumstances  the  elector  would  listen  to  no  ar- 
guments on  the  part  of  Sweden.  During  the  winter 
which  followed   the  fatal  battle  of  Nordlingen,   the 


70  LIFE  OP 

treaty  between  Saxony  and  Austria  was  concluded; 
and  the  elector  prepared  to  persecute  his  former  allies 
with  all  the  virulence  of  apostacy. 

Still  Oxenstiern  yielded  not  to  despair,  although,  in 
addition  to  the  defection  of  Saxony,  a  renewal  of  hos- 
tilities with  Poland  was  to  -be  expected  as  the  truce  ap- 
proached its  conclusion,  and  although  the  progress  of 
the  Austrians  was  daily  becoming  more  important. 
Spires,  Treves,  Philipsburg  itself,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  imperial  or  Spanish  generals,  and  the  aid  of 
France  was  feeble  and  ineffectual.  A  diet  of  the  pro- 
testant  princes  was  held  at  Worms;  and  at  length 
Oxenstiern  determined  to  proceed  in  person  to  Paris 
and  Holland,  for  the  purpose  of  inviting  those  states, 
which  had  so  strongly  contributed  to  engage  Sweden 
in  the  war,  to  give  her  now  some  powerful  support  in 
sustaining  it.  Ere  he  went,  however,  to  negotiate  with 
those  two  powers,  on  the  one  hand,  he  gave  every 
necessary  direction  for  treating  with  Poland  on  the 
other.  A  small  Swedish  army  was  landed  in  Prussia, 
in  order  that  no  weakness  might  appear;  but  the  son 
of  Oxenstiern,  who  with  several  other  commissioners 
managed  the  interests  of  Sweden,  was  commanded  to 
obtain  a  prolonged  peace  at  any  honourable  sacrifice. 
The  negotiations  conducted  under  the  mediation  of  the 
count  d'Avaux,  ambassador  from  France,  were  in  this 
respect  successful ;  and  yielding  a  considerable  tract 
of  conquered  territory  to  the  demands  of  Poland,  a 
new  treaty  was  entered  into  for  twenty-one  years. 

Previous  to  this  final  arrangement,  Oxenstiern  had 
set  out  for  the  court  of  France.  He  was  received  by 
Richelieu  with  honours  paid  to  no  other  ambassador: 
his  whole  expenses  were  defrayed  during  his  stay; 
and  the   cardinal  visited  him  in  person,  a  mark  of 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  71 

respect  which  he  seldom  showed  to  any  one.  Some 
distinction  the  French  minister  claimed  in  deference  to 
the  purple,  which,  perhaps,  the  protestant  Swede  might 
at  other  times  have  refused;  but  Oxenstiern  came  for 
important  purposes,  and  not  for  petty  ceremonies;  and 
after  some  brief  conferences,  he  concluded  such  ar- 
rangements with  France  as  promised  greater  success 
for  the  ensuing  campaigns.  He  thence  proceeded  to 
Holland,  where  he  did  all  that  could  be  done  to  stimu- 
late the  States  to  greater  activity;  but  on  his  return  to 
Germany,  he  found  the  actual  position  of  the  Swedes 
even  worse  than  when  he  had  left  the  country.  Seve- 
ral other  German  princes  were  treating  with  the  em- 
peror: the  army  of  Weimar  was  exhausted  by  disease 
as  well  as  desertion;  and  against  the  stronger  force  of 
Banier  in  the  north,  the  elector  of  Saxony  was  em- 
ploying the  means  of  corruption  more  destructively 
than  the  force  of  arms. 

The  exertions  of  Richelieu,  however,  who  now  en- 
tered eagerly  into  the  interests  of  Sweden,  soon  began 
to  be  felt.  A  supply  of  money  enabled  duke  Bernard 
to  recruit  and  keep  together  his  army,  and  similar 
assistance  afforded  Banier  the  means  of  paying  off  a 
part  of  the  arrears  due  to  his  troops,  and  thus  re- 
moving an  argument  which  the  Saxons  had  used  to 
seduce  them  from  his  standard.  The  French  forces, 
though  at  first  they  effected  but  little  in  the  field,  af- 
forded at  least  such  a  diversion  as  saved  the  Swedish 
armies  from  being  overwhelmed  at  once;  and  though  a 
number  of  princes  and  free  towns  had  gone  over  irre- 
coverably to  the  emperor,  they  became,  under  the 
skilful  management  of  Oxenstiern,  more  serviceable  to 
Sweden  as  enemies  than  they  had  ever  been  as  friends, 


72  LIFE  OF 

supplying  readily  both  provisions  and  contributions  to 
the  armies  that  demanded  them  at  the  point  of  the 
sword,  which'  they  had  refused  to  the  same  forces  when 
they  came  to  protect  them  from  oppression. 

At  length  a  signal  victory  obtained  by  Banier  over 
the  Saxon  forces  near  Domitz  raised  again  the  hopes  of 
the  Swedes;  and  various  other  successes,  followed  by 
another  general  battle,  won  by  Banier,  in  1636,  com- 
pletely restored  that  nation  to  a  commanding  position. 
About  the  same  time  Oxenstiern,  who  had  now  been 
many  years  absent  from  his  native  country,  retired  to 
Sweden,  leaving  the  war  to  be  carried  on  by  those 
whose  profession  it  peculiarly  was. 

The  confederacy  of  Heilbron  was  now  formally  at 
an  end,  and  the  office  that  he  held  as  its  general  di- 
rector no  longer  existed.  He  resigned  then  the  autho- 
rity in  Germany,  which  had  been  granted  him  by  the 
regency  of  Sweden,  and  appeared  once  more  in  the 
senate  as  the  chancellor  of  the  kingdom,  and  one  of 
the  young  queen's  guardians.  From  that  period,  for 
several  years,  his  attention  seems  to  have  been  prin- 
cipally devoted  to  rearing  the  mind  of  Christina  in 
habits  of  business,  and  knowledge  of  political  details. 
He  persuaded  her,  even  from  her  early  youth,  to  take 
part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  council,  and  endeavoured 
to  instil  into  her  those  principles  of  government  apd 
that  political  knowledge  which  long  experience  had 
taught  him.  He  had  to  encounter  many  difficulties, 
however,  at  this  time  in  Sweden:  a  difference  of 
opinion  often  existed  between  himself  and  the  other 
regents;  and  the  queen-mother,  whose  incapacity  for 
government  was  notorious,  pressed  eagerly  for  a  share 
of  authority.     Oxenstiern,  it  would  appear,  was  justi- 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  73 

fied  in  excluding  her,  by  the  last  commands  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus  himself;  but  the  queen  resented  his 
opposition,  and,  leaving  the  country,  betook  herself  to 
Denmark. 

In  that  quarter,  too,  other  storms  were  gathering. 
Christian  IV.,  the  Danish  monarch,  used  every  unjus- 
tifiable means  to  gain  advantages  over  Sweden,  while 
she  was  entangled  in  the  German  war:  he  oppressed 
her  commerce,  impeded  her  in  the  navigation  of  the 
Sound,  and  showed  so  plainly  what  were  his  intentions, 
that  Oxenstiern,  seeing  that  hostilities  were  inevitable, 
resolved  to  commence  them  at  one.  ere  the  preparations 
of  Denmark  had  begun.  Bold,  indeed,  was  the  deter- 
mination to  plunge  into  a  new  war,  while  the  forces  of 
Sweden  found  almost  the  whole  armies  of  Germany 
arrayed  against  them  ;  but  at  that  moment  Torstenson 
was  maintaining  the  cause  of  his  country  with  renewed 
success;  and  the  chancellor,  while  he  prepared  an  ir- 
ruption into  Denmark  from  Sweden  itself,  sent  orders 
to  that  great  commander  to  make  a  sudden  and  secret 
march  upon  Holstein. 

So  completely  did  Torstenson  veil  his  manoeuvres, 
that  the  whole  of  Europe  contemplated  them  with 
surprise  and  perplexity ;  and  so  well  was  the  secret 
kept  at  Stockholm,  that  neither  France,  Holland,  nor 
Denmark  herself,  even  guessed  the  approaching  attack 
upon  the  latter  kingdom,  till  the  Swedish  armies  were 
actually  in  Holstein.  The  Danish  monarch  was  utterly 
unprepared  for  resistance;  but  he  hastened  to  levy 
forces  to  oppose  Torstenson,  who  in  a  few  days  over- 
ran the  whole  duchy.  Another  Swedish  army  attacked 
Shonen  with  success,  and  threatened  to  cross  over  into 
Funen  and  Zealand  5  and  the  king  of  Denmark  himself 

vol.  11.  7 


74  LIFE  OF 

was  defeated  and  wounded  in  command  of  his  fleet. 
The  only  hope  was  from  the  efforts  of  Austria;  and 
the  emperor  did  not  fail  to  make  immense  exertions  to 
drive  the  Swedes  from  Holstein:  but,  after  a  faint  pro- 
mise of  success,  Galas,  the  imperial  general,  was  de- 
feated and  driven  from  post  to  post  by  Torstenson,  till 
the  army  under  his  command  was  absolutely  annihilated. 
Various  other  reverses  induced  the  king  of  Denmark 
to  sue  for  peace  on  any  terms;  and,  under  the  mediation 
of  France  and  Holland,  Oxenstiern  concluded  a  treaty 
with  that  prince  at  Bremesboor,*  upon  conditions  the 
most  advantageous  to  Sweden  that  success  could  com- 
mand. 

Christina,  who  had  now  attained  her  age  of  majority, 
and  had  taken  upon  herself  the  government  of  her  do- 
minions, lost  no  time  in  testifying  her  gratitude  for  the 
important  services  which  Oxenstiern  had  just  rendered 
her ;  and,  together  with  several  considerable  estates, 
she  bestowed  upon  him  the  title  of  count,  and  publicly 
pronounced  upon  him  a  high  eulogium  in  an  assembly  of 
the  states.  Always  the  enlightened  friend  of  literature 
and  science,  as  every  great  minister  has  universally 
shown  himself  to  be,  Oxenstiern  was  elected  chancellor 
of  the  university  of  Upsal ;  and  a  great  part  of  his 
time  was,  after  this  period,  directed  to  promote  the 
purposes  of  that  institution.  His  favour  at  the  court, 
however,  was  not  so  great  as  it  had  been ;  and  the 
strong  objections  which  he  raised  to  several  of  the 
princes  who  aspired  to  the  hand  of  the  young  queen 
have  given  rise  to  suspicions  that  he  both  sought  to 
retain  the  chief  power  in  his  own  hands,  and  enter- 
tained even  the  wilder  scheme  of  marrying  his  son 

*  1615. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  75 

i 

Eric  to  his  sovereign.  Certain  it  is,  that  he  thwarted 
in  the  most  open  way  the  desires  of  the  elector  Frederic 
William  of  Brandenburg,  between  whom  and  Christina 
a  marriage  had  been  proposed  even  in  the  time  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus;  but  the  reasons  that  he  assigned  for 
his  opposition  appear  perfectly  natural  and  sufficient. 
The  proximity  of  that  prince's  dominions  to  Sweden 
gave  great  facilities,  it  is  true,  for  mutual  support  and 
assistance;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  probable,  both 
from  the  known  character  of  the  elector,  and  the  ordi- 
nary propensities  of  man,  that  he  would  fill  Sweden, 
if  ever  he  became  its  king,  with  favourites  of  his  own 
nation,  and,  perhaps,  ultimately  reduce  it  to  a  mere 
appendage  to  the  German  empire. 

In  the  meantime  Torstenson  again  defeated  the  im- 
perial troops,  and  laid  siege  to  Vienna  itself.  Turenne 
and  Conde  carried  on  the  war  upon  the  part  of  France. 
Wrangel  succeeded  Torstenson  in  his  victories  and  his 
command  :  the  emperor  was  reduced  to  the  very  lowest 
condition;  and,  in  the  end,  the  peace  of  Munster  ter- 
minated the  war  with  great  advantages  to  Sweden.  In 
the  negotiations  for  that  peace,  John  Oxenstiern,  the 
son  of  the  chancellor,  appeared  on  the  part  of  Sweden, 
acting  under  the  direction  of  his  father;  but  Christina, 
who  began  to  grow  weary  of  the  great  authority  of  her 
father's  chancellor,  sent  also  the  famous  Salvius  to  the 
conferences,  for  the  purpose,  it  is  supposed,  of  keeping 
Oxenstiern  in  check.  It  is  probable  that,  under  other 
circumstances,  the  calm  firm  policy  of  the  great  minis- 
ter might  have  obtained  more  important  advantages  for 
Sweden  ;  but  he  was  destined  to  see  many  of  his  hopes 
for  the  prosperity  of  his  master's  child  ruined  by  her 
own  perverseness.     Charles  Gustavus,  first  cousin  of 


76  life  or 

the  young  queen,  had,  during  the  latter  years  of  the 
war,  appeared  several  times  in  Sweden,  with  a  view  of 
obtaining  the  hand  of  Christina;  and,  according  to  some 
accounts,  his  suit  was  favoured  by  the  chancellor. 
Christina,  however,  had  other  views;  and  in  the  end  of 
the  year  1649  she  signified  her  intention  of  naming 
that  prince  as  her  successor  to  the  throne  of  Sweden. 
Oxenstiern  opposed  this  purpose  with  many  other  in- 
fluential members  of  the  senate,  but  in  vain  ;  and  in 
the  following  year,  the  queen  called  an  assembly  of  the 
states,  and  obtained  their  nomination  of  Charles  Gus- 
tavus,  duke  of  Zweibrucken,  as  heir  to  the  Swedish 
crown,  in  case  of  her  death. 

This  was  but  a  preparatory  step,  for  although  she 
went  through  the  ceremony  of  her  coronation,  she, 
early  in  the  following  year,  evinced  a  determination 
to  abdicate  in  favour  of  her  cousin.  Oxenstiern  again 
opposed  her  purpose,  and  called,  to  support  his  views, 
not  only  the  French  ambassador,  but  Charles  Gustavus 
himself.  Christina's  resolution,  however,  was  immov- 
able, and  doubtless  wise ;  for  the  irregularity  of  her 
conduct,  her  avowed  disrespect  for  the  religion  of  the 
country  which  she  was  called  to  govern,  and  her  weak 
and  capricious  character,  were  day  by  day  alienating 
the  affections  of  all  that  were  honest  in  Sweden.* 

Long  remembered  love  for  her  father  kept  the 
chancellor  still  faithful  to  the  interests  of  his  child, 

*  Amelot  de  la  Houssaie  declares,  that  the  Swedes  were  on  the 
point  of  deposing"  and  confining  her,  if  she  had  not  made  a  virtue 
of  necessity,  and  resigned  the  throne.  I  find  no  proof  of  this, 
however,  though  her  disgusting"  immorality  and  want  of  principle 
were  too  well  known  to  be  concealed  by  wit,  or  covered  by  the 
thin  veil  of  counterfeit  philosophy. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  77 

although  he  could  not  close  his  eyes  to  her  unworthi- 
ness  ;  and  he  opposed  her  abdication  to  the  last,  re- 
plying to  those  who  pointed  out  the  certain  proofs  of 
her  bad  conduct,  "Alas,  alas!  be  it  as  it  may,  she  is 
nevertheless  the  daughter  of  the  great  Gustavus." 
Using  all  his  influence  with  the  senate,  Oxenstiern 
induced  the  senators  to  present  so  strong  a  remon- 
strance to  the  queen  in  1651,  that  she  consented  still 
to  retain  the  reins  of  government;  but  before  the 
year  1654,  the  nation  had  become  well  prepared  for  an 
event  which  was  now  generally  desired.  Measures 
had  been  concerted  to  prevent  the  abdication  from 
giving  any  shock  to  the  affairs  of  state  ;  and  though 
the  senate  made  a  slight  parade  of  opposition,  every- 
thing was  arranged  to  facilitate  the  queen's  descent 
from  the  throne. 

The  states  were  accordingly  assembled  in  May, 
1654;  and  Christina  announced  her  determination  in 
one  of  those  pompous  and  rhetorical  speeches  in  which 
her  vanity  led  her  frequently  to  indulge.  She  at- 
tempted then  to  induce  the  states  to  name  her  favour- 
ite, the  baron  de  Tott,  successor  to  Charles  Gustavus, 
to  whom  she  resigned  the  throne ;  but  she  found 
them  not  at  all  inclined  to  listen  to  her  nomination. 
All  that  she  required  for  herself  they  granted  ;  but 
for  De  Tott  she  could  obtain  nothing,  although  she 
eagerly  pressed  to  have  the  title  of  duke  bestowed 
upon  him,  offering  to  elevate  count  Brahe  and  Oxen- 
stiern to  the  same  rank.  Those  two  nobles,  however, 
boldly  replied,  that  the  ducal  coronet  had  never  been 
granted  to  any  but  the  sons  of  their  kings,  and  they 
only  desired  to  raise  themselves  above  their  fellows 
by  their  virtues.     Christina,  although  disappointed  in 

7* 


78  LIFE  OF 

this  respect,  persevered  in  her  determination  to  with- 
draw from  the  restraint  of  government ;  and,  covering 
bad  passions  and  evil  conduct  under  the  profaned 
mantle  of  philosophy,  she  resigned  the  throne,  with 
much  pomp  and  display,  on  the  16th  of  June,  in  the 
same  year.  All  the  officers  of  the  crown  were  pre- 
sent, and  took  part  in  the  solemnity,  except  the  great 
chancellor  Oxenstiern,  who  could  be  induced  by  no 
persuasion,  either  to  sanction  the  act  of  abdication  as 
a  senator,  or  to  appear  in  the  scene  in  which  it  was 
executed.  "I  promised  upon  oath  to  Gustavus,  my 
king,"  he  replied,  to  every  solicitation,  "  to  place 
and  to  maintain  the  crown  of  Sweden  on  the  head  of 
his  daughter  ;  and  it  would  be  criminal  and  treache- 
rous, on  my  part,  to  concur  in  an  act  which  deprives 
her  of  royalty." 

The  mortifications  which  he  had  lately  undergone 
had  hastened  the  ravages  which  time,  aided  by  ex- 
treme labours,  was  making  on  the  frame  of  the  chan- 
cellor; and  to  discover  as  he  did,  shortly  after  Chris- 
tina's abdication,  that  the  revenues  of  the  state  were 
diminishing,  and  that  its  exchequer  was  every  day 
becoming  more  and  more  in  debt,  added  fresh  griefs 
to  those  which  already  oppressed  him.  At  length,  a 
constitution  which  had  been  once  extremely  powerful 
gave  way ;  and  having  been  seized  with  a  slight  fit 
of  apoplexy  at  the  palace,  while  transacting  business 
with  his  new  sovereign,  Charles  Gustavus,  he  retired 
to  his  own  house,  and  prepared  for  death.  The  end 
of  the  great  statesman's  days  was,  as  he  anticipated, 
approaching;  and  in  the  month  of  August,  1654,  he 
left  a  world  in  which  he  had  played  a  noble  and  dis- 
tinguished part. 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  79 

Axel  Oxenstiern  was  well  made,  and  handsome  in 
person,  with  a  peculiarly  noble  and  expressive  coun- 
tenance. His  constitution  was  robust,  and  his  health 
through  the  greater  part  of  life  almost  uninterrupted; 
but,  in  comparison  with  others  of  his  age  and  nation, 
lie  was  extremelv  moderate,  both  in  eating  and  drink- 
ing ;  avoiding  carefully  the  excesses  into  which  al- 
most all  the  immediate  followers  of  Gustavus  fell,  in 
consequence  of  the  roving,  hazardous,  and  unsettled 
life  which  they  were  forced  to  lead,  from  the  out- 
breaking of  the  war  till  its  close.  Though  brave, 
and,  indeed,  apparently  fearless  to  the  same  degree  as 
his  great  sovereign,  he  never  seems  to  have  sought 
the  character  of  a  general,  feeling  himself  better  fitted 
to  act  in  the  cabinet  than  in  the  field.  Yet,  at  the 
same  time,  it  is  but  fair  to  state,  that  in  all  his  military 
undertakings  he  was  successful,  keeping  several  newly- 
acquired  and  inimical  provinces  in  perfect  subjection 
with  a  very  small  force,  and  leading,  on  various  oc- 
casions, considerable  detachments  to  join  his  sove- 
reign, through  the  midst  of  defensible  countries,  and 
in  the  face  of  infinitely  superior  forces. 

His  erudition  was  very  extensive  and  also  very  pro- 
found ;  and  various  compositions  are  supposed  to  have 
issued  from  his  pen,  under  the  names  of  other  persons, 
which,  were  the  fact  clearly  established,  would  place 
him  high  in  the  ranks  of  literature.  As  a  statesman, 
perhaps,  his  character  stands  above  that  of  any  other 
in  the  history  of  modern  Europe;  for  he  showed  all 
those  qualities  which  are  requisite  in  the  great  and 
perilous  course  of  the  politician,  with  most  of  those 
virtues  which  adorn  any  station,  and  exalt  the  man 
higher  than  the  minister.     He  was  penetrating,  clear- 


80  life  or 

sighted,  firm,  courageous,  enduring,  comprehensive  in 
his  views,  prompt  in  his  decisions,  persevering  in  his 
purposes:  yet  he  was  just,  humane,  a  lover  of  truth, 
amenable  to  reason,  candid  in  the  acknowledgment 
of  his  faults,  liberal  in  his  judgment  of  others,  devo- 
tedly attached  to  those  he  loved,  yet  neither  tenacious 
of  resentment,  nor  sanguinary  in  his  enmities. 

Where  is  the  minister  who  has  not  been  charged 
with  ambition  ?  Perhaps,  in  regard  to  the  electorate 
of  Mayence,  Oxenstiern,  did  covet  and  strive  for  an 
honour  which  was  not  an  empty  one,  a  dignity  which 
would  have  conferred  real  power  j  but  the  moment 
he  found  that  his  pursuit  of  that  object  would  impede 
the  execution  of  his  dead  sovereign's  designs,  and 
might  prove  detrimental  rather  than  beneficial  to  his 
country,  he  abandoned  it  without  a  murmur.  It 
might  be,  also,  that  he  showed  himself  as  Schiller 
declares  he  did,  both  unscrupulous  in  the  distribution 
of  territories  over  which  he  had  no  right  but  that  of 
the  sword,  and  forgetful  of  the  constitution  of  the 
Germanic  empire.  But  we  must  remember  that 
those  who  could  have  disputed  his  title  to  distribute 
founded  their  own  claims  on  the  same  right  by  which 
he  possessed,  and  that  the  persons  to  whom  he  gave 
were  members  of  that  very  empire,  and  struggling 
for  its  privileges  against  those  who  were  thus  stripped. 
It  is  true  that  Gustavus  came  to  uphold  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  Germanic  empire,  not  to  destroy  it ;  but 
the  emperor  himself  had  set  the  example  of  making 
a  private  contention  the  plea  for  stripping  an  elector 
of  his  territories,  and  those  who  supported  him  in  in- 
justice exposed  themselves  to  retaliation. 

If  Oxenstiern  sought  to  wed  his  son  to  the  queen 


AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN.  81 

Christina,  he  pursued  his  purpose  with  such  modera- 
tion as  to  leave  no  trace  of  his  endeavours,  except  in 
surmise;  and  if  he  clung  to  power,  his  enemies  them- 
selves never  denied  that  he  used  it  ever  for  the  good 
of  his  country.  That  he  was  occasionally  haughty 
and  passionate  when  he  was  assailed  by  the  mean,  the 
base,  and  the  interested,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and 
that  he  often  treated  with  contemptuous  indignity  the 
feeble,  selfish,  vacillating  princes,  who  surrounded 
him  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  is  equally  true  :  but 
where  he  met  with  talents  or  with  virtues  he  was 
sure  to  show  them  honour;  and  the  native  dignity  of 
his  character,  which  those  who  had  none  stigmatised 
as  cold  pride,  guarded  him  against  the  commission  of 
any  mean  and  pitiful  acts. 

He  treated  as  an  equal  with  Richelieu,  the  most 
penetrating  and  politic  man  of  his  age,  and  was  not 
overreached  ;  but  Oxenstiern  had  great  advantages 
which  more  than  equalled  the  cardinal's  powers  of 
deceit  and  subtilty.  He  was  not  so  vain,  arrogant,  os- 
tentatious, or  ambitious.  So  far  from  loving  to  govern 
alone,  and  seeking  for  all  the  fame,  and  all  the  advan- 
tages proceeding  from  every  great  act,  he  retired  from 
notice,  as  much  as  it  was  possible  to  do,  in  a  respon- 
sible situation  ;  and  it  is  difficult  to  prove  that  many 
of  those  strokes  of  policy,  which  we  are  internally 
convinced  emanated  from  his  mind,  were  not  sug- 
gested or  modified  by  others.*     But  still,  on  all  oc- 

*  Thus  I  4?ave  not  placed  the  famous  constitution  given  to 
Sweden  after  Gustavus's  death  amongst  the  acts  of  Oxenstiern, 
to  whom  it  is  usually  ascribed,  because  some  doubts  exist  in  my 
mind  as  to  whether  it*  might  not  be  as  a  part  or  a  whole  dictated 
by  the  king  himself  at  his  last  interview  with  his  minister,  or  in 


82  LIFE  OF  AXEL  COUNT  OXENSTIERN. 

casions  where  he  does  appear,  the  same  masterly  in- 
tellect, the  same  vigorous  firmness,  the  same  noble 
moderation,  the  same  comprehensive  mind,  stand  forth, 
and  show  him  as  at  once  one  of  the  noblest  and  one  of 
the  wisest  of  his  age. 

one  of  the  letters  which  he  wrote  to  him  shortly  before  the  battle 
of  Lutzen. 


LIFE  OF 

GASPAR  DE  GUZMAN,  COUNT  OLIVAREZ, 
DUKE  OF  SAN  LUCAR. 

BORN  ABOUT  1587,  DIED  A.D.  1643. 

Issuing  from  a  distinguished  branch  of  the  ancient 
and  renowned  family  of  Guzman,  possessing  conside- 
rable wealth,  and  third  count  of  Olivarez,  the  minister 
afterwards  famous  as  the  count-duke,  met  with  few 
difficulties  in  his  ascent  to  power.  His  father,  a  Cas- 
tilian  nobleman  of  some  talent,  wras  successively  am- 
bassador at  Rome,  viceroy  of  Sicily  and  Naples,  and 
counsellor  of  state  to  Philip  III.  During  his  embassy 
to  the  papal  court,  under  the  pontificate  of  Sextus  V., 
the  ambassador  inhabited  a  house  said  to  have  been 
built  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  palace  of  Nero,  and  in 
this  dwelling  was  born  the  future  minister;  an  event 
from  which  his  enemies  did  not  fail,  at  an  after  period, 
to  insinuate  that  the  spirit  of  the  Roman  tyrant  had 
entered  into  the  bosom  of  the  infant.  After  the  re- 
turn of  his  father  to  Spain,  Olivarez  was  sent  to  the 
university  of  Salamanca,  where  he  pursued  his  studies 
with  very  great  distinction  ;  and  thence  proceeded  to 
Madrid,  where  the  court  offered  at  that  time  a  scene 
of  vice  and  corruption,  from  which  it  was  difficult  for 
a  young  man  to  escape  unsullied.  Much  that  he  saw, 
— the  venality,  the  fraud,  and  the  insincerity,  which 
were  apparent  in  every  saloon  and  every  office,  act- 
ing upon  a  heart  naturally   disinterested,  but  suspi- 


84  LIFE  OF 

cious,  gave  that  sternness  to  his  integrity,  and  that 
haughty  jealousy  to  his  demeanour  which  afterwards 
characterised  all  his  proceedings  during  his  continu- 
ance in  power.  The  softer  and  the  more  fascinating 
vices,  however,  of  the  Spanish  court, — those  which 
did  not  disgust  by  their  grossness,  nor  shock  by  their 
baseness,  could  hardly  fail  to  prove  alluring  to  one 
young,  wealthy,  and  powerful,  who  found  facilities 
of  all  kinds  on  the  path  of  passion.  He  thus  spent 
some  time  at  Madrid  in  the  society  of  the  fair,  but  not 
chaste  dames,  with  which  that  capital  was  then  crowd- 
ed, the  votary  of  a  softer  power  than  the  ambition 
which  was  to  follow  after.  To  dwell  upon  such  scenes 
is  rarely  necessary,  and  never  pleasing,  and  therefore 
we  shall  not  pursue  the  course  of  Olivarez  through 
the  various  amours  which,  truly  or  falsely,  have  been 
attributed  to  him  by  those  who  have  collected  the 
anecdotes  of  his  early  life.  On  one  attachment  of  the 
kind,  however,  it  may  be  necessary  to  pause,  as  the 
consequences  of  this  adventure  became  afterwards  of 
importance,  and  are  connected  with  some  of  the  most 
singular  acts  and  some  of  the  most  curious  traits  of 
character  in  the  life  of  the  count  himself. 

Various  branches  of  the  family  of  Spinola  had  emi- 
grated from  Genoa  during  the  reign  of  Philip  II.,  and 
had  settled  in  Spain,  where  they  were  received  into 
the  ranks  of  the  nobility,  and  distinguished  themselves 
highly  both  in  civil  and  military  employments.  One 
of  this  house  married  a  Spanish  lady,  and  by  her  had 
three  daughters  of  extraordinary  beauty;  the  eldest  of 
whom,  Margueret,  left  with  little  but  an  unfortunate 
dowry  of  loveliness,  was  besieged  with  views  but 
little  honourable  by  a  number  of  the  nobles  of  a  disso- 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ. 


85 


lute  court ;  and  at  length  choosing  more  from  interest 
than  passion,  she  yielded  to  don  Francesco  de  Valea- 
zar, alcade  of  the  court,  a  man  of  great  wealth  and  in- 
fluence,  but  advanced  in  years.      At  the  time  that 
Olivarez  arrived  in  Madrid  she  was  the  acknowledged 
mistress  of  Valeazar;  but  seeing  her,  and  becoming 
fascinated  with  her  beauty,  he  easily  obtained  means 
of  introducing  himself  to  her,  and  found  little  diffi- 
culty in  persuading  a  dissolute  woman  to  deceive  a 
man   for  whom  she  entertained   no  affection.      This 
intercourse  continued  for  some  time,  and  at  length  a 
son  was  born,  the  paternity  of  which  was  very  doubt- 
ful.    The  alcade,  however,  was  the  reputed  father; 
but  feeling  anything  but  secure  of  the  fidelity  of  his 
mistress,  Valeazar  took  but  little  charge  of  the  child ; 
who,  till  he  reached   the  3ge  of  eighteen,    never  re- 
ceived any  name  but  that  of  Julian,  which  had  been 
given  him   at  his  baptism.      His  mother,   however, 
having  died,   and  left  him  in   poverty,  he  obtained 
permission  of  the  alcade  to  take  the  name  of  Valeazar; 
and  though  feeling  strongly  convinced   that  the  child 
was  not  his  own,  that  officer  obtained  for  him  a  small 
post  in  South  America,  the  golden  land  of  all  the  ad- 
venturous spirits  of  the  age. 

Educated  without  any  care  by  a  mother  who  had 
showed  herself  devoid  of  all  principle,  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  young  adventurer  would  distinguish 
himself  by  virtue,  although  he  is  generally  admitted 
to  have  possessed  considerable  talent.  His  career  in 
Mexico  is  not  well  ascertained,  but  it  is  confidently 
stated  that  he  there  committed  crimes  for  which  he 
was  sentenced  to  the  galleys.     From  that  fate,  how- 

VOL.  II.  8 


S6  LIFE  OF 

ever,  he  was  saved  by  the  viceroy,  who  was  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  his  reputed  father;  and  having  re- 
turned to  Spain,  in  which  country  the  alcade  had 
in  the  meantime  died,  he  found  himself  utterlv  des- 
titute.  He  then  is  said  to  have  entered  the  army  as 
a  simple  soldier,  and  served  for  some  years  in  Flan- 
ders and  Italy,  showing  considerable  courage  and 
talent,  but  at  the  same  time  evincing  a  strong  dispo- 
sition to  make  his  manners  and  demeanour  harmonise 
with  the  rank  of  life  into  which  he  had  now  fallen. 
From  Italy  he  returned  in  1631  or  1632  nearly  as 
poor  as  he  went,  but  he  was  destined  to  find  high  for- 
tunes awaiting  him. 

In  the  meantime  he  who  was  probably  the  real 
father  of  this  unfortunate  man  had  gradually  changed 
his  pursuits,  casting  aside  love  for  ambition,  and  was 
seeking  advancement  at  the  court,  where  he  was  first 
appointed  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  bedchamber  to 
Philip,  the  heir-apparent  to  the  throne.  Olivarez  ap- 
plied himself  diligently  to  gain  the  young  prince's 
favour  ;  and  by  his  wit,  his  varied  learning,  and  his 
knowledge  of  his  master's  foibles,  he  made  considera- 
ble progress.  A  most  formidable  opponent  existed  in 
the  person  of  the  count  de  Lemos,  a  nobleman  who 
had  been  placed  near  the  prince  by  the  duke  of 
Lerma,  then  prime-minister,  and  whose  personal 
graces,  vigour  of  mind,  and  dignity  of  character, 
gave  him  great  advantages  over  the  young  Olivarez. 
Lemos,  however,  applied  himself  more  to  gain  the 
favour  of  the  king,  Philip  III.,  than  that  of  the  prince; 
and  to  support  the  falling  authority  of  his  own  uncle, 
the  cardinal-duke  of  Lerma,  against  the  machinations 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  87 

of  that  minister's  ungrateful  son,  the  duke  of  Uceda.* 
The  house  of  Guzman,  however,  lent  their  aid  to 
Uceda:  the  bold  frankness  of  the  count  de  Lemos 
only  offended  th'3  weak  king,  and  the  duke  of  Lerma 
was,  in  the  end,  disgraced  and  banished  from  the 
court. 

All  the  offices  which  had  been  held  by  Lerma  were 
now  at  once  seized  upon  by  Uceda,  except  that  of  su- 
perintendent of  the  prince's  education  ;  which  was 
filled  for  some  days  by  the  conde  de  Paredes,  but  was 
soon  resigned  by  that  nobleman.  Every  effort  was 
now  made  by  the  family  of  Olivarez  to  gain  it  for 
one  of  their  connexions;  and  at  length  Uceda  bestowed 
it  on  don  Baltazar  de  Zuniga,  uncle  of  the  future 
minister.  During  the  rest  of  the  life  of  Philip  III. 
Olivarez  remained  unnoticed,  but  still  advancing  in  the 
favour  of  the  prince,  over  whom  his  power  became  in- 
finite after  the  removal  of  Lemos  and  his  friends.  At 
length,  in  the  year  1621,  Philip  IV.  succeeded  to  the 
throne  of  Spain,  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  but,  far  from 
obeying  the  directions  of  his  father,  who  had  recom- 
mended to  him  to  retain  the  ministers  already  in  office, 
one  of  his  first  acts  was  to  dismiss  Uceda,  and  to  name 
as  prime  minister  his  former  preceptor,  don  Baltazar  de 
Zuniga. 

This  appointment,  however,  seems  to  have  been 
merely  made  at  the  desire  of  Olivarez,  who,  for  the 
time,  affected  a  degree  of  humility  and  disinterested- 
ness which  deceived  the  king,  but  not  the  people.    At 

*  I  do  not  know  why  this  name  is  constantly  written  Uzeda  in 
English.  Cespedes  and  all  the  old  Spanish  authors  which  I  have 
met  with  always  use  the  letter  c  and  not  z. 


88  LIFE  OF 

the  same  time  the  favourite  governed  under  the  name 
of  his  uncle,  and,  Cespedes  implies,  even  openly  shared 
in  the  administration.  The  favour  of  the  monarch 
daily  increased,  instead  of  diminishing,  and  the  effects 
thereof  soon  became  apparent.  Olivarez  was  appointed 
to  various  high  offices,  was  named  duke  of  San  Lucar, 
and  raised  to  the  rank  of  grandee  of  Spain,  with  the 
universal  applause  of  the  people,  gran  valedor  de  novi- 
dades,  as  the  historian  calls  the  Spanish  nation.  Oli- 
varez now  threw  off  the  mask:  his  uncle,  don  Baltazar, 
resigned  his  power  into  his  nephew's  hands,  and  died 
shortly  after,  leaving  the  favourite  to  assume  the  title  as 
well  as  the  functions  of  minister. 

The  first  acts  of  Olivarez  showed  a  disposition  to 
severity,  which  was  afterwards  somewhat  mitigated,  but 
which  never  wholly  left  him.  His  predecessor,  the 
duke  of  Uceda,  was  arrested,  and  thrown  into  prison. 
The  famous  duke  of  Ossuna,  at  the  moment  that  he 
thought  himself  likely  to  be  called  into  favour  and 
authority,  was  seized,  and  conveyed  to  the  castle  of 
Almeida.  His  trial  was  immediately  commenced,  a 
number  of  follies  and  a  number  of  crimes  offering  fair 
foundation  for  the  charge  against  him;  but  the  pro- 
ceedings were  protracted  with  cruel  delay,  and,  at  the 
end  of  three  years,  he  died,  still  a  prisoner. *  Uceda 
escaped  more  gently,  having  been  condemned  to  fine 
and  exile;  but  the  king  remitted  the  punishment,  gave 
him  letters  of  abolition,  and  named  him  to  the  vice- 
royalty  of  Catalonia,  which  1  am  led  to  believe  he  de- 
clined.!    At  the  same  time  the  padre  Aliaga,  confessor 

*Some  say  of  dropsy,  some  of  apoplexy,  some  of  poison  taken 
voluntarily. 

f  Cespedes  leaves  the  matter  in  doubt. 


GASPAR    COUNT    OLIVAREZ.  89 

to  the  late  king  and  grand  inquisitor,  received  a  com- 
mand to  retire  to  his  convent,  and  was  ultimately  de- 
prived of  his  rank  in  the  inquisition,  with  the  consent 
of  the  pope. 

Still  more  severe  measures,  however,  were  pursued 
towards  the  duke  of  Lerma  and  his  favourite  Cal- 
deron.  The  former  was  proceeded  against  criminally 
on  account  of  various  alleged  peculations  committed 
while  he  held  the  reins  of  government;  and  though  his 
rank  in  the  Roman  hierarchy,  as  cardinal,  shielded  him 
from  death  or  imprisonment,  he  was  stripped  of  all  his 
wealth,  and  even  of  his  hereditary  property,  in  order 
to  make  up  the  sum  of  1,400,000  crowns,  which  he  was 
alleged  to  have  obtained  unjustly  by  a  monopoly  of  the 
corn  from  Sicily.  The  latter,  don  Rodrigo  de  Calderon, 
count  of  Oliva,  who,  from  a  low  origin,  had  risen,  by 
the  favour  of  Lerma,  to  wealth,  power,  and  rank, — a 
man  of  talent,  application,  and  many  high  and  noble 
qualities,  but  one  on  whom  fortune  had  acted  unfavour- 
ably in  rendering  him  haughty  and  ostentatious, — was 
made  a  sacrifice  to  the  hatred  of  the  people  he  had 
often  insulted,  and  to  the  jealousy  of  men  less  worthy 
than  himself.  If  he  had  not  borne  prosperity  meekly, 
he  at  least  endured  adversity  with  the  dauntless  fortitude 
of  a  man  of  high  courage,  and  the  calm  humility  of  a 
Christian.  Long  imprisonment,  cruel  delays,  and  brutal 
insults  served  but  to  call  forth  virtues  in  him  which  had 
previously  lain  dormant ;  and  when  at  length  he  was 
executed  for  crimes  that  no  one  believed  he  had  com- 
mitted, is  demeanour  was  so  noble  and  so  affecting, 
that  even. his  enemies  shed  tears,  and  regretted  the  act 
they  had  thus  consummated. 

These  first  proceedings  of  the  new  minister  tended  to 


90  LIFE    OF 


render  him  both  loved  and  feared  by  the  populace ;  for 
those  whom  he  struck  were  old  favourites  of  the  court, 
and,  consequently,  had  long  been  objects  of  popular 
hatred.  Nor  were  external  events  less  favourable  on 
his  accession  to  power.  Marmora,  which  had  been  be- 
sieged by  an  army  of  50,000  Moors,  was  relieved,  and 
the  attacking  force  defeated.  Don  Frederic,  of  Toledo, 
gained  several  advantages  over  the  Dutch,  who  were 
driven  about  the  same  time  from  the  Moluccas,  while  the 
famous  Spinola  was  sent  to  take  the  command  in  the 
Low  Countries,  and  laid  siege  to  Juliers,  which  sur- 
rendered after  a  resistance  of  five  months.  At  the  same 
time,  the  Spanish  and  the  imperial  troops  upon  the  Rhine 
were  gaining  constant  advantages  over  the  unfortunate 
Palatine,  and  everything  gave  Olivarez  reason  to  hope 
that  the  power  of  the  house  of  Austria  was  rising 
triumphant  above  its  rivals.  His  plans  and  his  ambition 
increased  with  these  successes,  but  still  he  was  not 
so  much  without  foresight  as  he  is  frequently  repre- 
sented to  have  been  ;  and  although  he  could  not  but  per- 
ceive thatFrance  was  the  enemy  with  which  Spain  would 
have  ultimately  to  contend,  yet  he  lost  no  opportunity, 
especially  at  this  point  of  his  career,  to  conciliate  his  dan- 
gerous neighbour,  and  thus  keep  the  Spanish  armies  free 
to  pursue  the  war  against  Holland.  Even  the  breaking 
of  the  truce  with  the  states-general,  which  has  often  been 
attributed  to  Olivarez  as  a  fault,  can  scarcely  be  fixed 
upon  him  with  any  certainty.*  Indeed  it  would  appear 
to  have  been  determined  upon  by  the  duke  of  Uceda 
long  before  the  count-duke  had  any  share  of  power; 

*  Olivarez  in  his  exculpation  does  not  deny  the  act,  but  defends 
the  policy. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  91 

and, "whether  peace  was  broken  by  his  authority  or  not, 
it  is  certain  that  the  Spanish  and  Dutch  forces  had  been 
aclualjy  opposed  to  each  other  prior  to  the  death  of 
Philip  III.     No  doubt,   however,   can  be  entertained 
that  Olivarez  was  willing  to  carry  on  the  war  against 
Holland  with  vigour  and  perseverance;  and,  could  he 
have  prevented  himself  from  being  drawn  into  conten- 
tion with  other  powers,  his  hostilities  against  the  united 
states  might  have  been  politic  though  not  just.  Towards 
the  end  of  a  long  truce,  it  was  either  necessary  to  recog- 
nise the  independence  of  the  states,  or  to  continue  the 
war  in  order  to  re-establish  the  dominion  of  Spain.    To 
have  suffered  the  truce  to  be  prolonged,  would  have  been 
a  virtual  resignation  of  the  claims  of  the  Spanish  crown, 
without  an}^  of  the  advantages  which  might  be  hoped 
from  either  of  the  more  direct  modes  of  proceeding.    To 
resign  the  claims  of  Spain,  and  acknowledge  the  inde- 
pendence of  Holland,  even  receiving  some  indemnifi- 
cation, Olivarez  could  not  attempt;  for  he  well  knew 
that  not  only  the  king,  but  the  whole  Spanish  nation, 
would  oppose  him  as  one  man  ;  and  even  if  the  design 
ever  crossed  his  mind,  which  probably  it  never  did, — 
for  we  must  not  forget  that  Olivarez  was  a  Spaniard, — 
it  would    have  been  insanity  to  have  attempted  its 
execution. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  preceding  reign,  took  place 
the  occupation  of  the  Valteline  and  the  building  of 
forts  in  that  district,  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken,*  and  the  threats  of  France  now  produced  ne- 
gotiations for  the  re-establishment  of  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Grisons.     These  negotiations  ended  in  a  vague 

*  See  Life  of  Richelieu. 


92  LIFE  OF 

treaty,  the  terms  of  which  were  never  observed,  but 
which  served  to  lull  the  suspicions  of  France,  then 
struggling  with  a  war  against  the  Huguenots,  and  ruled 
by  the  weak  uncertain  hands  of  Luines  and  Vieville. 
Finding,  however,  that  even  the  latter  began  to  awake 
from  his  lethargy  and  to  renew  the  threats  which  had 
before  been  used  in  regard  to  the  Valteline,  Olivarez — 
who  fell  into  the  common  error  of  mistaking  the  cha- 
racter of  his  opponents,  and  attributed  to  the  French 
many  of  the  distinctive  traits  of  the  Spanish  people — 
determined  to  place  the  strong  places  of  the  Valteline 
as  a  deposite  in  the  hands  of  the  pope,  imagining  that 
French  ministers  would  show  as  much  scrupulous  re- 
verence for  the  holy  see  as  was  testified  on  all  occa- 
sions by  the  government  of  Spain. 

Thus  rested  the  whole  affair  till  the  staff  of  rule  in 
France  fell  into  the  vigorous  grasp  of  Richelieu  ;  but 
in  the  mean  time  the  arrangement  made  by  the  count- 
duke  was  looked  upon  in  Spain  as  a  fine  stroke  of  po- 
licy. The  satisfaction  which  was  thus  spread  through 
the  country  was  somewhat  diminished  by  the  news  of 
Spinola  having  been  forced  to  raise  the  siege  of  Ber- 
gen-op-Zoom;  but  the  canonisation  of  four  Spanish 
saints,  which  Olivarez  had  obtained  from  the  willing 
pontiff,  was  sufficient  to  cast  a  lustre  over  the  whole  of 
the  year  1622  ;  and  successes  on  the  side  of  Germany, 
as  well  as  some  brilliant  but  unprolific  exploits  upon 
the  coast  of  Africa,  served  to  keep  the  nation  in  high 
good  humour  with  the  minister. 

The  following  year  also  presented  to  the  Spanish 
people  several  of  those  scenes  of  splendour  and  display 
which  excite  the  imagination  and  render  a  haughty 
nation  content  with  itself  and  with  all  attached  to  it. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  93 

For  many  months  negotiations  had  been  carried  on 
between  the  Spanish  and  the  English  courts  concern- 
ing the  marriage  of  prince  Charles,  afterwards  the  un- 
fortunate king,  Charles  I.,  with  the  infanta,  sister  of 
Philip  IV. ;  and  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  year  that 
prince,  together  with  his  favourite,  Buckingham,  ap- 
peared at  Madrid.     Charles  affected  to  have  come  in- 
cognito, but  he  was  received  with  roval  honours.    Oli- 
varez,   however,  taking  advantage  of  the  imprudent 
step  which  the  English  prince  had  committed,  sought 
to  obtain  more  advantageous  terms  for  Spain.     The 
pope,  probably  at  his  suggestion,  delayed  the  necessary 
dispensations  for  the  marriage  of  the  infanta ;  and  every 
art  was  used  both  to  increase  the  inclination  of  the 
prince  for  the  proposed  alliance,  and  yet  to  exact  hard 
conditions.     Buckingham,  whose  pride  and  licentious- 
ness soon  rendered  him  odious,  is  reported  to  have  at- 
tempted the  virtue  of  the  duchess  Olivarez,  during  his 
visit  to  Spain,    with    the  same   libertine  vehemence 
which    he  afterwards   displayed   towards   the   young 
queen  of  France.     The  facts,  however,  have   never 
been  clearly  ascertained  ;  but  either  in  the  fear  of  en- 
countering Spanish  revenge,  as  a  consequence  of  his 
unprincipled  audacity,  or  of  seeing  the  prince  himself 
fall  a  victim  to  the  imprudent  step  which  he  had  coun- 
selled, Buckingham  induced  Charles  to  make  a  some- 
what hasty  retreat  from  the  Spanish  court,  and  subse- 
quently broke  off  the  treaty  of  marriage,  which  all  the 
diplomatic  skill  of  Olivarez  was  unable  afterwards  to 
renew.     The  count-duke  viewed  with  jealousy,   in- 
deed, and  laboured  hard  to  frustrate  the  negotiations 
which    immediately    afterwards    took   place    between 
France  and  England  on  the  same  subject,  but  it  was  in 


/ 


94  LIFE  OF 

vain;  and  the  inauspicious  marriage  between  Charles 
and  Henrietta  took  place. 

In  the  mean  time,  Holland  was  left  alone  to  contend 
with  Spain,  Olivarez  gained  various  advantages,  and 
the  states  met  with  several  reverses.  Prince  Maurice 
was  forced  to  abandon  the  attempt  which  he  had  made 
upon  Antwerp  with  considerable  loss ;  and  during  the 
same  year  160  Dutch  vessels  were  seized  in  Spanish 
ports,  where  they  were  trading  under  the  flag  of  the 
Hanse  towns.  Various  events  affecting  the  fortunes 
of  the  house  of  Austria  took  place  about  this  time  both 
in  Germany  and  Italy ;  but  having  given  a  sketch  of 
these  in  the  preceding  pages,*  we  shall  only  notice 
them  casually  in  their  order,  directing  our  principal 
attention  to  the  facts  with  which  the  name  of  Olivarez 
is  immediately  connected.  Thus  the  affairs  of  Flan- 
ders and  the  Indies,  of  the  coast  of  Africa  and  the  in- 
ternal policy  of  Spain,  require  more  particular  notice 
in  this  place  than  even  the  events  of  greater  magnitude 
which  occurred  in  Germany  and  Italy. 

Indeed  the  state  of  Spain  itself,  at  the  period  of  the 
accession  of  Philip  IV.,  is  the  most  important  for  the 
consideration  of  all  who  would  examine  the  actions  of 
Olivarez  as  those  of  a  celebrated  statesman  ;  for  it  was 
the  error  of  not  justly  appreciating  the  exact  condition 
of  the  country  he  had  to  rule,  in  relation  to  his  exter- 
nal enterprises,  which  was  the  great  defect  in  the 
policy  of  the  count-duke.  It  is  true  that,  had  the  same 
personages  only  remained  upon  the  political  scene, 
which  occupied  it#on  his  first  entrance  into  office,  or 
had  others  as  weak  succeeded  them,  the  vast  designs 

•  See  Life  of  Richelieu  and  Life  of  Oxenstiern. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  95 

of  the  Spanish  minister,  notwithstanding  the  consum- 
mate talents  of  the  brothers  of  Nassau,  and  the  ex- 
hausted state  of  the  finances  of  Spain,  would  probably 
have  been  crowned  with  success.  The  influence  of 
the  house  of  Austria  might  have  been  permanently 
established  in  Germany  on  the  complete  abasement  of 
all  the  inferior  princes  :  in  Italy  it  might  alsf  have 
been  rendered  permanent,  and  Holland  might  have 
been  yet  reduced  to  great  concessions;  but  Richelieu, 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  Oxenstiern,  Cromwell,  had  yet  to 
appear ;  and  Olivarez  had  not  any  right  to  calculate 
upon  no  man  of  talent  rising  up  to  oppose  him  amongst 
all  the  many  states  whose  interests  were  adverse  to 
those  of  Spain.  His  designs  were  too  vast  for  his  re- 
sources,— such  has  been  the  principal  charge  against 
him  as  a  politician,  and  in  some  degree  this  charge  is 
well  founded,  but. by  no  means  to  that  degree  which 
it  seems  to  reach  at  first  sight.  In  order  to  form  a 
just  opinion  on  this  subject,  we  must  remember,  that 
into  many  of  his  greatest  undertakings  and  into  the 
Ions  and  ruinous  war  which  at  length  utterly  ex- 
hausted  the  powers  of  Spain,  Olivarez  was  impelled  by 
the  acts  of  his  opponents,  as  well  as  by  his  own  views 
of  aggrandizing  Spain  ;  and  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  he  laboured  hard,  and  not  unwisely,  both  to  pro- 
crastinate the  moment  of  actual  contest,  and,  while  he 
did  thus  procrastinate,  to  recruit  the  resources,  dimi- 
nish the  expenses,  and  consolidate  the  powers  of  the 
country,  whose  energies  he  was  called  upon  to  wield 
to  the  best  advantage.  Had  he  appreciated  with  per- 
fect accuracy  all  the  circumstances,  he  woul/J  have 
made  greater  sacrifices,  forborne  many  tempting  ad- 
vantages, and  yielded  many  points  of  national  pride, 


96  LIFE  OF 

if  not  of  national  honour,  in  order  to  direct  his  unin- 
terrupted efforts  to  remedy  the  internal  diseases  of  the 
Spanish  monarchy ;  but  even  had  he  done  so,  it  is  pro- 
bable that  the  designs  of  Richelieu  would  have  forced 
him  into  the  war  which  he  sought  to  avoid.  As  it 
was,  his  error  lay  in  overstepping  a  very  narrow  and 
ill-defined  line.  The  result  seems  to  show  that  he 
was  wrong;  but  a  very  small  portion  more  of  mode- 
ration would  have  rendered  him  right. 

In  regard  to  the  state  of  Spain,  I  shall  have  to  speak 
more  fully  hereafter,  when  I  come  to  compare  it  with 
the  condition  of  its  great  rival  France.     The  promul- 
gation, however,  of  several  important  laws  at  the  time 
of  which  I  now  treat,  renders  it  necessary  to  say  that 
Olivarez,  on  his  becoming  minister,  was  placed  in  one 
of  the  most  difficult  positions,  and  undertook  one  of 
the  most  laborious  tasks  that  it  is  possible  to  conceive. 
The  discovery  of  the  New  World  was  the  first  step 
towards  the  ruin  of  Spain.     It  drained  the  country  of 
its  enterprising  spirits;  it  afforded   revenues  without 
exertion  ;   and,  acting  upon  the  nation,  like  plentiful 
food  without  labour  upon  an  individual,  it  debilitated 
{■he  whole  people,  and  unstrung  the  nerves  of  industry 
throughout  the  land.     The  long  wars  of  Philip  II.  and 
Philip  III.,  the  loss  of  Holland,  the  evils  of  divided 
monarchy  and  widely  separated  territories,  ail  contri- 
buted to  diminish  the  finances  of  the  state,  and  to  im- 
poverish those  very  kingdoms  which  had  already  lost 
their  activity   under  the    influence  of  a   sudden   and 
unnatural   influx  of  wealth.      Industry  returned    not 
with  necessity  :  whatever  enterprise  remained  sought 
other  shores    where  encouragement   was  certain   and 
success  probable  ;  the  people,  long  habituated  to    idle- 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  97 

ness,  found  privation  preferable  to  exertion ;  the  ground 
remained  nearly  uncultivated  ;  the  population  became 
thinner  every  day;  those  who  drew  a  certain  portion 
of  riches  from  either  the  New  World,  or  from  large 
estates,  crowded  into  the  principal  towns;  and  the  rest 
of  the  people  lived  in  poverty  and  wretchedness,  whe- 
ther as  poor  and  unemployed  gentlemen,  or  as  indo- 
lent and  half-starved  artisans.  The  picture  presented 
of  a  Spanish  country  gentleman's  dwelling,  by  the 
great  Cervantes,  its  poverty,  its  misery,  is  not  alone 
applicable  to  that  of  Don  Quixote.*  It  is  the  portrait 
of  a  whole  class.  The  only  persons  who  had  conti- 
nued to  cultivate  in  Spain  the  arts  of  industry  with 
unremitting  perseverance  and  success,  had  been  the 
Morescoes,  or  descendants  of  the  ancient  Moors  ;  but 
these  had  suffered  banishment  under  the  government 
of  Lerma,  whose  weakness,  profusion  and  irregularity 
had  given  the  last  stroke  to  the  finances  of  the  state. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Spain,  when  Olivarez 
came  into  power;  and  to  bring  remedies  to  the  dis- 
eases which  afflicted  it,  was  one  of  the  first  steps  of 

*  Through  the  whole  of  the  inimitable  book  to  which  I  refer 
runs  a  sad  deep  moral  satire,  imperceptible  to  those  who  are  not 
well  acquainted  with  the  state  of  Spain  at  that  time,  and  even 
darkly  concealed  from  the  people  of  the  age  in  which  it  was  writ- 
ten, lest  the  safety  of  the  writer  should  have  been  compromised. 
Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  Cervantes  sought  to  display  nothing 
but  the  wanderings  of  a  pure  and  mighty  mind  overthrown,  or  the 
burlesque  adventures  of  a  humorous  peasant.  He  had  undoubt- 
edly far  higher  and  nobler  objects  in  view,  in  every  page  reading 
some  moral  lesson,  pointing  out  some  glaring  evil,  suggesting 
some  great  improvement,  or  lashing  some  reigning  vice  ;  and  the 
history  of  the  knight  of  La  Mancha,  that  most  perfect  of  gentle- 
men, and  his  squire,  however  brilliant  and  admirable  in  itself,  is 
but  the  vehicle  for  more  important  matter. 
VOL.   II.  9 


98  LIFE  OP 

that  minister.     On  the  10th  of  February,   1624,  he 
published  a  decree  by  which  an  immense  number  of 
useless  officers  were  at  once  dismissed.   Added  to  this, 
he  announced  several  sumptuary  laws  of  very  doubtful 
policy,  forbidding  any  persons  whatever  to  entertain 
more  than  eighteen  domestic  servants,  and  regulating 
the  dress  of  all  classes,  with  provisions  which  were 
offensive  and  easily  to  be  evaded.     But,  at  the  same 
time,  every  means  was  taken  to  encourage  persons  in 
the  lower   ranks  to  marry,   in  order    to   supply  the 
lamentable  want  of  a  labouring  population.     A  newly 
married  man  was  exempt  from  all  taxes  for  four  years, 
and  a  man  with  six  children  was  free  for  life.     Laws 
against  emigration  also  were  enacted  ;  measures  were 
employed  to  prevent  the  people  of  the  provinces  from 
flocking  into  the  large  towns ;  and  the  most  extraordi- 
nary privileges  and  immunities  were  held  out  to  those 
who  devoted  themselves  to  agriculture  or  to  manufac- 
tures.    At  the  same  time,  advantages  of  every  kind 
were  offered  to  all  foreign  manufacturers,  agriculturists, 
and  artisans  who  chose  to  settle  in  Spain. 

The  end  of  the  year  1624,  and  the  beginning  of 
1625,  were  inauspicious  towards  Spain.  On  the 
coasts  of  South  America,  as  well  as  on  those  of 
Flanders,  the  Dutch  fleets  made  great  progress. 
France  furnished  the  states  with  money,  and  engaged 
them  by  treaty  not  to  make  peace  with  Spain:  the 
marquis  de  Cceuvres,  without  showing  any  great  re- 
spect for  the  papal  authority,  took  possession  of  the 
Valteline,  and  drove  out  the  pontifical  troops;  and 
everything  announced  that  a  new  and  powerful  hand 
had  seized  the  reins  of  government  in  France.  Oli- 
varez,  however,  did  not  show  himself  unequal  to  the 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  99 

occasion.     Taken  by  surprise,  indeed,  in  regard  to  the 
Valteline,  he  could  not  recover  that  important  territory, 
but  four  fleets  were  instantly  equipped  in  Spanish  ports. 
The  duke  of  Feria  was  ordered  to  march  to  the  relief 
of  Genoa,  now  attacked  by  the  French  and  Savoyards; 
the  galleys  of  the  catholic  king  hastened  to  the  support 
of  that  city;  a  league  was  entered  into  between  Spain, 
Lucca,  Tuscany,  Modena,  and  Parma,  to  oppose  the 
progress  of  the  invaders;  and  the  armies  of  France 
and  Savoy  were  obliged  to  abandon  all  they  had  ob- 
tained, and  retreat  with  loss  from  the  territory  they 
had  divided   in    the  anticipation    of  conquest.     The 
tide  of  affairs,  too,  turned  on  the  coast  of  America; 
a  great  part  of  what  had  been  seized  by  the  Dutch  was 
regained  by  Spain,  and  a  dangerous  insurrection  was 
appeased  without  serious  inconvenience.     The  death 
of  Maurice  of  Nassau,  also,  was  considered  by  the 
Spaniards  as  equal  to  a  victory;  and  the  great  advan- 
tages gained  by  the  emperor  tended  to  strengthen  all 
the  branches  of  the  house  of  Austria. 

Nevertheless,  Olivarez  most  wisely  determined,  as 
far  as  possible,  to  avoid  entering  into  a  general  war. 
Although  the  French  and  Spanish  armies  had  encoun- 
tered each  other  in  the  field,  and  though  various  acts 
of  direct  hostility  had  been  committed  by  each  country 
against  the  other,  yet  they  were  not  held  to  be  in  an 
absolute  state  of  warfare;  and  the  Spanish  minister 
sought  eagerly  and  skilfully  to  calm  the  differences 
that  existed  between  the  two  kingdoms.  The  necessity 
of  doing  so  became  the  more  obvious  while  the  nego- 
tiations were  going  on,  from  symptoms  of  insurrection 
in  various  parts  of  Spain.     The  Catalonians  especially, 
believing  the  government  to  be  entangled  in  a  foreign 


100  LIFE   OF 

war,  and  counting  upon  support  from  France  in  case  of 
actual  revolt,  refused  all  subsidies;  and  even  while 
the  court  was  present  at  Barcelona,  one  of  the  King's 
principal  officers  was  stabbed  in  the  assembly  of  the 
states  of  the  province.  Olivarez  immediately  withdrew 
with  the  monarch  from  that  city ;  but  the  people  im- 
puted even  that  very  justifiable  act  to  bad  designs,  and 
new  signs  of  resistance  manifested  themselves. 

Luckily  for  Spain,  it  happened  that  France  was  en- 
gaged in  suppressing  internal  dissentions  likewise,  that 
her  arms  in  Italy  had  received  a  severe  check,  and  that 
her  finances  were  in  a  state  of  terrible  disorder.  The 
overtures  of  Olivarez  were  willingly  listened  to  by 
Richelieu  ;  and,  at  the  very  time  when  the  Spanish 
provinces  were  preparing  to  resist,  France  concluded  a 
treaty  with  Spain,  which  deprived  the  opponents  of 
the  Spanish  minister  of  all  their  hopes  of  support. 
The  Catalonians  instantly  became  tranquil,  the  subsi- 
dies were  voted,  and  by  the  transactions  which  ensued, 
Olivarez  obtained  conditions  from  even  the  keen-sight- 
ed  Richelieu,  which  rendered  the  duke  of  Savoy  an 
enemy  to  France. 

At  the  same  time,  Olivarez  diminished  considerably 
the  expenses  of  the  war  against  Holland  and  England, 
but  he  diminished  also  its  vigour,  and  the  Dutch  in 
consequence  gained  many  advantages.  Eager  to  see 
the  court  of  France  embroiled  with  its  protestant  sub- 
jects, the  count-duke  entered  into  a  secret  treaty  with 
France,  by  which  he  engaged  that  the  Spanish  fleet 
should  blockade  the  port  of  La  Rochelle,  while  the 
army  of  Louis  XIII.  besieged  that  city  by  land  ;  but 
having  little  inclination  to  free  the  hands  of  the  French 
minister,  by  aiding  him  to  gain  a  complete  triumph 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  101 

over  the  factions  which  had  so  long  distracted  France, 
Olivarez  is  supposed  to  have  given  secret  orders  to 
don  Frederic  of  Toledo,  the  Spanish  admiral,  which 
prevented  him  from  yielding  any  real  assistance  to  the 
besieging   force.     During  the  blockade  of  Rochelle, 
however,    the   death   of  Vincent,    duke   of  Mantua, 
created   a   cause   of  contention    between  France  and 
Spain.     The  duke  of  Nevers,  legitimate  successor  of 
the  late  sovereign  of  Mantua,   was  a  Frenchman  by 
birth ;  and  lest  that  nation  should  obtain  by  his  means 
the  footing  in  Italy,  for  which  she  had  been  so  long 
striving,  against  all  the  precautions  of  Spain,  Olivarez 
was  tempted  to  abandon  the  course  he  had  hitherto 
pursued,  and  to  risk  a  general  war.     The  occasion,  it 
is  true,  seemed  favourable ;  Richelieu   was  occupied 
with  the  siege  of  Rochelle,  to  which  place  England 
held  out  promises   of  such  assistance  as  would  have 
protracted  the  defence  to  an  indefinite  period.     The 
protestants  of  the  south  of  France  were  maintaining 
themselves  in  open  insurrection;  the  duke  of  Savoy 
was  willing  to  share  in  the  spoil  of  Mantua,  and  to 
exclude  the  French  from  Italy;  and  the  Spanish  pro- 
vinces voted  a  large  donation  to  supply  the  necessities 
of  the  state.     Olivarez,  therefore,  acting   in  concert 
with  the  emperor,  opposed  the  rights  of  the  duke  of 
Nevers,    and  for  a  time  was  completely  successful: 
Montferrat  was  overrun  and  its  principal  strong  places 
taken;  Mantua  itself  ultimately  fell  before  the  arms  of 
the  emperor,  and  the  unfortunate  duke  found  himself 
stripped  of  all  his  dominions.     But  ere  these  advan- 
tages were  secured,  Rochelle  had  surrendered;  Riche- 
lieu had  declared  France  the  protector  of  the  duke  of 
Mantua;  Louis  XIII.  forced  the  pass  of  Suza,  and  in 

9* 


102  LIFE  OF 

the  campaigns  which  we  have  already  mentioned*  re- 
covered part  of  that  which  the  duke  had  lost,  gaining 
other  successes,  which  ended  ultimately  in  a  new 
treaty  of  peace. 

In  the  mean  time  Holland  had  obtained  tremendous 
advantages,  both  by  land  and  sea,  in  Flanders  and  in 
America.  The  famous  Spinola,  called  from  the  Low 
Countries  into  Italy,  had  been  ill  treated  by  Olivarez, 
and  blamed  and  neglected,  and  dying  of  disappoint- 
ment and  indignation,  left  no  one  who  could  supply 
his  place.  Flanders,  abandoned  to  the  defence  of  in- 
efficient generals,  began  to  show  signs  of  disaffection 
towards  the  crown  of  Spain.  Cabals  were  formed 
in  various  cities;  and  at  length  a  regular  conspiracy 
took  place,  for  the  purpose  either  of  establishing  a 
republic  in  imitation  of  Holland,  or  of  calling  in  the 
troops  of  France.  The  views  of  the  conspirators, 
however,  were  communicated  by  the  duke  of  Arschot 
to  the  archduchess,  governess  of  the  Netherlands, 
who,  by  his  advice,  took  means  to  frustrate  their 
attempts,  without  punishing  the  offenders.  Olivarez, 
however,  was  not  so  moderate  ;  and  a  number  of  the 
nobles  of  Flanders,  were  arrested  and  treated  with 
various  degrees  of  severity. 

Feeling  every  day  more  and  more  the  financial  em- 
barrassments of  the  state,  Olivarez  now  sought  even 
to  conclude  a  peace  with  Holland,  but  in  vain.  Spain 
intrigued  with  all  the  disaffected  in  France;  and 
France,  wrhose  views  for  the  abasement  of  the  house 
of  Austria  were  now  beginning  to  expand,  did  not  fail 
to  stimulate  and  support  all  the  external  enemies  of 
Spain.     Every    effort    made   by   Olivarez   towards  a 

*  See  Life  of  Richelieu. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  103 

peace  was  frustrated  by  the  diplomacy  of  Richelieu, 
who  was  already  engaged  in  open  hostilities  against 
the  emperor,  while  the  Spanish  monarch  naturally 
afforded  all  the  assistance  in  his  power  to.  the  imperial 
branch  of  his  own  family.  Such  a  state  of  covert  war- 
fare could  not  of  course  endure  for  any  great  length  of 
time;  and  Olivarez,  seeing  that  a  rupture  must  even- 
tually take  place,  determined  that  the  first  advantages 
to  be  gained  by  it  should  be  in  favour  of  the  house  of 
Austria.  After  the  fatal  battle  of  Vordlingen,  Philips- 
burg  had  been  given  up  to  France  by  the  Swedes,  and 
the  elector  of  Treves  had  long  shown  his  inclination  to 
aid  the  enemies  of  Spain  and  the  empire.  Towards 
the  Rhine  the  eyes  of  all  Europe  were  turned,  as  it 
seemed  at  that  moment  that  the  destinies  of  many 
states  were  about  to  be  decided  upon  the  banks  of  that 
river.  There,  then,  the  first  blow  was  struck  by  Spain 
against  that  powerful  enemy,  who  never  ceased  the  hos- 
tilities which  ensued, from  that  moment  till  the  resources 
of  the  peninsula  were  totally  exhausted.  Treves  and 
Philipsburg  were  both  taken  by  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
elector  of  the  former  place  was  carried  away  a  prisoner 
to  Antwerp. 

Richelieu  instantly  sent  a  herald  to  Brussels  to  declare 
war,  and  a  French  army  entered  the  Low  Countries; 
but  fortune  had  not  yet  become  favourable  to  the  arms 
of  France.  After  some  successes  on  the  part  of  that 
country,  the  cardinal-infant,  who  had  now  succeeded 
the  archduchess  in  the  government  of  Flanders,  ob- 
tained the  superiority,  and  in  return  carried  the  war 
into  Picardy  and  Champagne.  Olivarez,  all  activity, 
attacked  at  the  same  time  the  coasts  of  Provence;  and 
Spain  became  possessed  of  several  islands  in  the  gulf. 


104  LIFE  OF 

A  French  and  Savoyard  army  were  defeated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Po  ;  and  Galas,  with  the  imperial  forces 
on  the  Rhine,  drove  back  the  cardinal  de  la  Valette, 
and  forced  him  to  take  shelter  under  the  cannon  of 
Metz  with  very  considerable  loss. 

The  following  year  produced  advantages  still  more 
important.  A  Spanish  army  from  Flanders  invaded 
Picardy  and  menaced  the  capital  of  France.  Guy- 
enne  was  entered  from  the  Pyrenees;  and  St.  Jean 
de  Luz  fell  into  the  hands  of  Spain.  But  neither  the 
cardinal-infant  who  commanded  the  Spanish  army  in 
the  north,  nor  the  admiral  of  Castille  who  conducted 
that  in  the  south,  pushed  the  several  enterprises  in 
which  they  were  engaged  with  activity,  and  all  was 
lost  almost  as  soon  as  gained.  Not  so,  however,  sped 
the  affairs  of  Italy:  Leganez,  though  neither  a  skilful 
nor  successful  general,  opposed  the  French  and  Savoy- 
ards with  advantage,  and  driving  them  out  of  the 
Milanese,  led  his  troops  into  the  territory  of  Parma 
and  Placentia.  Now  was  the  moment  in  which  Oli- 
varez  should  have  chosen  to  conclude  a  solid  and  ad- 
vantageous peace;  and  though  the  dull  cloud  of  diplo- 
macy prevents  us  from  seeing  the  wishes  or  even 
actions  of  public  men  on  many  occasions  of  importance, 
yet  there  is  much  reason  to  believe,  from  the  pope 
having  eagerly  pressed  forward  at  this  time  as  a  media- 
tor, that  the  count-duke  was  sincerely  desirous  of 
taking  advantage  of  the  successes  of  the  Spanish  arms 
to  enter  into  a  treaty  with  France,  and  to  pursue  his 
plans  for  the  restoration  of  internal  prosperity.  Riche- 
lieu, however,  was  averse  to  peace,  although  the  forces 
of  France  had  not  been  so  successful  as  he  had  hoped 
they  might  be.     He  foresaw  that  both  Spain  and  the 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  105 

empire  must  soon  be  exhausted  by  the  many  detached 
points  which  they  were  forced  to  defend,  and  his  great 
object  of  humbling  the  house  of  Austria  was  yet  to  be 
obtained.  Although  the  place  of  conference  was 
named,  and  the  legate  had  actually  set  out,  yet  the  ne- 
gotiation was  brought  to  a  sudden  close,  and  the  war 
was  resumed  as  fiercely  as  ever. 

In  the  mean  time  the  course  of  Olivarez's  private 
life  had  been  affected  by  some  events  on  which  it  may 
be  necessary  to  pause.  He  had  now  been  long  mar- 
ried to  a  noble  and  high-spirited,  but  somewhat  over- 
bearing woman,  who,  having  been  appointed  to  the 
highest  station  near  the  person  of  the  queen,  ruled  the 
royal  palace  with  the  same  despotic  authority  which 
her  husband  exercised  in  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try at  large.  Although  not  blessed  with  a  very  easy 
or  placable  disposition,  the  duchess  of  San  Lucar  had 
the  wisdom  to  know  that  her  interests  and  her  happi- 
ness were  in  the  hands  of  her  husband;  and  to  promote 
his  views  all  her  efforts  were  directed,  while  in  domes- 
tic life,  without  any  very  extraordinary  degree  of  af- 
fection, they  lived  h.'ippily.  No  heir  had  sprung  from 
this  union,  and  for  some  years  Olivarez  and  his  wife 
employed  a  part  of  their  large  revenues  in  embellish- 
ing their  beautiful  country-seat  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Madrid,  and  in  founding  a  splendid  monastery  of 
Dominicans  on  their  estate;  while  the  count's  nephew, 
don  Louis  de  Haro,  son  of  the  marquis  de  Carpio,  was 
considered  the  heir  of  the  minister,  and  his  successor 
in  power. 

A  little  before  the  period  to  which  we  have  now 
brought  the  narrative  of  the  public  life  of  Olivarez, 
Julian  Valeazar,  son  of  Margueret  Spinola,and  reputed 


106  LIFE  OF 

son  of  the  alcade  Valeazar,  returned  to  Spain,  and  after 
living  for  some  time  in  great  poverty,  made  acquaint- 
ance with  a  girl,  whom  we  find  called  dcfnna  Isabella 
de  Azueda,  to  whom  he  was  about   to  be  married, 
when  by  some  means,  in  regard  to  which  I   have  no 
information,   he  attracted  the  attention  of  the  count- 
duke.      Handsome  in  person,  and  possessing  consider- 
able abilities,  the  minister  was  well  pleased  to  believe 
him  his  son,  as  Julian's  birth  had  taken  place  at  the 
period  of  his  own  intrigue  with  Margueret  Spinola. 
For  a  considerable  time  his  purposes  in  the  young 
man's  favour  do  not  seem  to  have  taken  any  decided 
form,    and    he    appears    to   have    contributed   to   his 
support,  without  either  openly  acknowledging  him  as 
his  offspring  or  exercising  any  authority  over  him. 
Even  his  marriage  with  Isabella  de  Azueda  was  allow- 
ed to  take  place,  though  the  character  of  the  lady  was 
not  peculiarly  pure;  and  it  is  probable  that  Olivarez 
at  first,   struck  with   the  coarseness  of  his  supposed 
son's  manners,  carried  his  intentions  no  farther  than  to 
place  don  Julian  above  want,  and  leave  him  in  the 
rank  of  society  into  which  he  had  naturally  fallen. 

Rumours,  however,  of  the  count  having  discovered 
his  son  began  to  fly  through  Madrid;  various  quarrels 
took  place  between  Olivarez  and  the  family  of  Carpio; 
and  hatred  towards  his  presumptive  heir,  don  Louis 
de  Haro,  united  with  the  desire  of  seeing  a  child  of 
his  own  succeed  to  his  fortune  and  his  power.  Under 
these  circumstances,  the  minister  took  the  most  extra- 
ordinary resolution  of  endeavouring  to  improve  the 
manners  and  cultivate  the  mind  of  his  supposed  son, — 
a  difficult  undertaking  at  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  and 
twenty, — and  of  formally  adopting  him  as  a  legitimate 
child.     The  mortification  and  offence  which  this  design 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  107 

inflicted  on  all  the  members  of  the  family  of  Carpio 
may  be  easily  conceived;  but  their  wrath  only  hastened 
the  proceedings  of  the  count-duke,  and  by  a  solemn  act 
of  legitimation  executed  under  the  sanction  of  the  king, 
he  acknowledged  the  child  of  Margueret  Spinola  as  his 
son  and  heir.     By  the  same  act,  and  by  the  monarch's 
authority,  his  name  was  changed  from  Julian  de  Valea- 
zar  to  Henry  Philip  de  Guzman.     All  that  remained 
was  to  elevate  his  manners  to  a  level  with  his  new 
rank;  and  for  this  purpose  the  count  laboured  inde- 
fatigably,  procuring  for  him  masters  of  all  kinds,  and 
establishing  for  him  a  splendid  household  supported  by 
a   princely  income.     Though   not  totally  ineffectual, 
the  attempt  to  give  him  the  carriage  and  manners  of  a 
Castillian  noble  was  not  very  successful;  but  the  par- 
tiality of  Olivarez  soon  blinded  his  eyes  to  the  defects 
of  his  legitimised  son;  and  he  now  turned  his  mind 
both  to  place  him  in  the  road  to  power  and  greatness, 
and  to  secure  for  him,  by  alliance,   support  amongst 
the  great  families  of  Spain. 

The  unfortunate  marriage  which  don  Henry  had 
contracted,  was  a  great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
latter  purpose;  but  Olivarez,  passionate  in  pursuit  of 
all  his  designs,  overbore  all  obstacles,  and  determined 
to  annul  the  union  which  formed  such  an  impediment. 
Tiie  pope  was  applied  to,  who  appointed  the  bishop  of 
Avila  to  investigate  and  decide;  but  donna  Isabella 
was  refractory,  and  determined  to  have  a  share  in  the 
good  fortune  of  her  husband,  dared  to  struggle  against 
the  will  of  the  minister — producing  the  authentic 
proofs  of  her  marriage,  and  resisting  the  divorce  with 
all  her  power.  That  resistance,  however,  was  una- 
vailing: the  good  bishop  was  more  pliant  to  the  will 


108  LIFE  OF 

of  Olivarez,  than  was  the  wife  of  his  son:  an  in- 
formality was  discovered  in  the  marriage  ceremony, 
which  had  been  performed  in  the  house  of  the  bride's 
own  mother,  and  not  within  the  precincts  of  the 
bride's  own  parish.  This  was  quite  sufficient  for  the 
purposes  of  the  minister  and  the  wishes  of  the  bishop, 
and  the  marriage  was  formally  annulled. 

The  ambition  of  Olivarez  now  seemed  to  centre  in 
the  elevation  of  his  son:  the  king,  led  at  will  by  his 
minister,  soon  received  don  Henry — as  he  was  now 
called — into  high  favour:  his  origin,  even  his  defects, 
were  forgotten;  flocks  of  courtiers  besieged  his  doors; 
he  was  appointed  a  commander  of  the  order  of  Cala- 
trava,  received  the  title  of  Excellency,  and  was  invest- 
ed with  a  number  of  high  offices  and  distinctions.*  The 
next  thing  was  to  obtain  for  him  the  hand  of  some  lady 
whose  birth  and  rank  would  afford  firm  support  to  her 
husband  in  case  of  need;  and  Olivarez  fixed  upon  the 
daughter  of  the  constable  of  Castille,  descended  from  a 
royal  stock,  and  holding  one  of  the  most  important  posts 
in  the  kingdom.  However  much  the  pride  of  the  high 
Castillian  noble  might  be  hurt  by  the  union  of  his 
daughter  with  the  natural  son  of  the  minister,  means 
were  found  of  inducing  him  to  comply,  and  Henry  de 
Guzman  was  formally  united  to  donna  Johanna  de 
Velasco.  Although  the  courtiers  and  the  nobles  forgot 
the  stigma  attached  to  the  birth  of  don  Henry,  and  the 
bend  sinister  of  his  own  arms  wras  not  observed  by  the 
side  ef  the  four  royal  quarters  on  the  escutcheon  of  his 
new  bride,  the  populace  had  a  more  retentive  memory 

*  It  is  not  quite  clear,  whether  he  was  ever  actually  appointed 
president  of  the  council  of  the  Indies  or  not;  but  if  not  his  eleva- 
tion to  that  important  station  was  only  stopped  by  his  father's  fall. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  109 

and  keener  eyesight,   and  saluted   him,  as   he  rode 
through  the  street,,  by  the  title  of 

"Enrique  de  dos  hombres  y  dos  mugeres, 
Hijo  de  dos  padres  y  de  dos  madres." 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  the  nobles 
themselves  submitted  to  the  intrusion  of  the  count's 
illegitimate  son  into  their  class  without  anger.  Many 
wrere  bitterly  offended  ;  nor  did  they  fail  to  testify 
their  discontent;  while  the  wealth  and  the  dignities 
which  Olivarez  heaped  upon  don  Henry,  and  the 
splendour  and  the  pageantry  with  which  he  took  care 
to  surround  him,  only  served  to  excite  their  envy 
without  diminishing  their  contempt. 

While  the  factions  were  growing  up  at  home,  which 
were  destined  to  work  the  fall  of  Olivarez,  those  ex- 
ternal wars  which  were  ultimately  to  give  force  and 
importance  to  internal  discontent  were  pursued  by  the 
minister  with  varied  fortune.  The  success  which 
attended  the  Spanish  arms  in  1637  was  greater  than 
that  obtained  by  France.  By  some  unaccountable 
neglect  the  Valteline,  which  had  been  gained  and  kept 
with  so  much  difficulty,  was  lost  to  the  French  crown; 
the  duke  of  Parma,  left  to  his  fate  by  Richelieu,  en- 
tered into  a  treaty  of  peace  with  Spain,  and  sacrificed 
a  part  of  his  dominions  to  preserve  the  rest;  while 
Leganez  attacked  the  united  French  and  Savoyard 
army,  and  obtained  a  victory  near  Nice.  In  Flanders 
successes  and  reverses  were  nearly  balanced  ;  but  in 
an  attack  upon  Leucate,  the  Spanish  troops  were  de- 
feated by  the  marechal  de  Schomberg;  and  the  islands 

VOL.  II.  10 


110  LIFE  OF 

on  the  coast  of  Provence  were  recovered  by  France, 
as  well  as  the  post  of  St.  Jean  de  Luz. 

An  event,  however,  occurred  in  the  course  of  the 
same  year,  which  by  the  skill  of  Olivarez,  was  ren- 
dered highly  serviceable  to  Spain.  The  duke  of 
Savoy  did  not  long  survive  his  defeat  ;  and  the  mo- 
ment that  he  was  dead,  Olivarez  instigated  his  brothers 
to  dispute  the  regency  of  the  duchy  with  the  sister 
of  Louis  XIII.,  his  widow.  Civil  war  soon  desolated 
Savoy,  and  for  a  long  time  a  considerable  French 
force  was  employed  in  that  country,  while  but  small 
expenses  on  the  part  of  Spain  sustained  the  princes  of 
Savoy  in  their  struggle  for  the  guardianship  of  their 
nephew.  In  Flanders  the  cardinal-infant  outdid  all 
expectations,  with  inferior  forces  holding  in  check 
the  French  on  one  side,  and  the  Dutch  on  the  other  : 
but  the  Brazils  were  now  lost  to  Spain;  and  the 
Swedes,  recovering  their  advantage,  were  driving  the 
emperor  to  the  brink  of  ruin. 

Olivarez   in    the   meantime   had   exhausted    every 
means  that  human  ingenuity  could  devise  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  money  and  men  to  carry  on  the 
war.     Few  and  scanty  donations  from  the  states  had 
been  increased  by  large  loans,  some  voluntary  in  re- 
ality,  and  some  only  apparently  so.       Confiscations 
and  fines  had  been  resorted  to,   and  the  exigency  of 
the  state  had  acquired  for  the  minister  a  character  of 
cruelty  which  he  probably  did  not  deserve.     All  ordi- 
nary  means,    however,    were    now    exhausted  ;    and 
feeling  that  peace  was  absolutely  necessary,  Olivarez 
again  attempted  to  obtain  it  even  at  a  considerable 
sacrifice.       But   Richelieu    saw   his   difficulties    with 
triumph,  and  still  held  the  sword  unsheathed  ;  while 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  Ill 

Olivarez,  bold  under  misfortune,  contemplated  the 
approaching  struggle  between  himself  and  the  Spanish 
people,  and,  finding  that  peace  wa3  not  to  be  ob- 
tained without  a  farther  effort,  only  strove  to  com- 
pel France  by  the  success  of  his  arms  to  grant  him 
repose  before  the  embarrassments  of  Spain  reached 
their  climax. 

In  this  point  the  policy  of  Richelieu  and  Olivarez 
stand  strongly  opposed  to  each  other.     Both  had  en- 
tered upon  power  with  exhausted  finances,  and  a  tur- 
bulent,  dissatisfied  people  to  hamper  the   march   of 
government ;  but  Richelieu,  before  he  suffered  him- 
self to  be  tempted  into  any  foreign  war,  applied  him- 
self to  gain  complete  command  over  the  internal  re- 
sources of  his  country,  by  crushing  every  faction  that 
could  oppose  his  policy,  or  divide  the  energies  of  the 
state.     For  this  purpose  he  hesitated  not  to  enter  into 
treaties   with    the   determination    of   breaking    them 
whenever  it  was  convenient,  and  to  make  a  thousand 
promises  and  stipulations  which  he  never  intended  to 
observe.      Olivarez   was  more   scrupulous,    and  had 
also  a  more  difficult  task  to  perform.     The  finances 
of  France,  it  is  true,  were  exhausted,  and  the  people 
turbulent  ;  but  in  Spain  the  very  elements  of  society 
were  injured,  though  not  destroyed.      The  spirit  of 
industry  was  at  an  end  in  all  branches,  and  the  popu- 
lation itself  was  too  scanty  to  support  the  drain  of 
long   continued   warfare.      A  great  commercial  or  a 
great  manufacturing  country  can  maintain,  with  ad- 
vantage to  herself  and  to  them,  innumerable  colonies, 
and  reciprocation  of  supplies  will  insure  the  prospe- 
rity of  all ;  but  a  country  where  manufactures  and 
commerce  are  both  neglected,  will  soon  find  her  colo- 


112  LIFE  OF 

nies  a  burthen  rather  than  a  benefit.  The  former  is 
like  an  industrious  man  with  plenty  of  employment 
and  a  large  family  of  children,  who  all  contribute  to 
aid  their  parent's  exertions  :  the  latter  like  an  idle 
spendthrift,  to  whom  every  child  is  an  additional 
burthen.  But  the  immense  number  and  scattered 
position  of  the  Spanish  colonies,  though  forming  an 
evil  of  no  slight  magnitude  in  the  state  to  which  she 
was  now  reduced,  were  not  the  original  cause  of 
that  state,  and  only  aided  to  sink  her  lower  when 
she  was  already  depressed.  The  process  of  her  fall 
had  been  very  simple ;  and  though  we  have  alluded 
to  it  before,  we  must  speak  more  fully  thereupon  in 
this  place. 

At  a  time  when  arms  was  the  great  trade  of  Eu- 
rope, and  when  Spain  in  prosperity  of  every  kind 
stood  amongst  the  highest  of  existing  nations,  the 
discovery  of  the  mines  of  South  America  had,  as  I 
haye  before  remarked,  drained  her  of  enterprising 
spirits,  and  had  supplied  to  her  that  fatal  ore  which 
afforded  the  means  of  obtaining  both  necessaries  and 
luxuries  without  exertion.  From  that  moment  her 
commerce,  which  had  been  considerable,  rapidly  de- 
creased, for  she  became  now  merely  the  purchaser  of 
the  commodities  of  other  nations,  and  no  longer  the 
vendor  of  her  own  productions.  Foreign  countries 
gave  her  their  merchandise,  and  she  returned  her 
silver.  Thus  failed  her  commerce,  and  her  manufac- 
tures followed  it  in  its  fall.  There  were  many  coun- 
tries in  Europe  eager  to  raise  up  their  prosperity  upon 
the  basis  of  productive  industry,  and  nothing  but  the 
most  zealous  competition  could  keep  the  manufactures 
of  any  land  upon  an  equality  with  those  of  numerous 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  113 

rivals.  To  create  that  eager  competition,  the  stimulus 
of  necessity  or  of  avarice  was  required  ;  and  while 
Spain  saw  herself  annually  inundated  with  silver, 
while  the  means  of  obtaining  from  other  people,  with 
little  trouble,  the  articles  which  cost  much  labour  to 
produce,  were  constantly  present,  and  commerce 
made  no  immediate  demand  upon  the  industry  of 
the  manufacturing  classes,  it  was  a  natural  conse- 
quence, that  the  fabrication  of  everything  formerly 
required  for  internal  consumption  or  external  traffic 
should  gradually  fall  into  disuse.  The  want  of  com- 
merce and  of  manufactures  speedily  produced  a  de- 
crease of  population  ;  for  all  history  proves  the  justice 
of  the  remark,  that  where  opportunities  of  obtaining 
active  employment  are  wanting,  the  numbers  of  the 
people  decrease,  even  though  the  necessaries  of  life 
may  from  any  adventitious  cause  be  abundant.  It 
is  not  only  sustenance  which  man  requires  as  the 
condition  of  his  numerical  increase,  but  it  is  suste- 
nance obtained  by  industry.  All  these  causes  com- 
bined, produced,  and  were  reciprocally  affected  by, 
the  utter  decline  of  agriculture.  Thus  was  a  country 
possessing  a  soil  of  infinite  fertility,  a  climate  calcu- 
lated to  mature  every  necessary  and  every  luxury, 
a  geological  structure  rich  and  inexhaustible,  an  im- 
mense extent  of  sea-coast,  and  colonies  comprising 
all  the  finest  portions  of  the  globe,  reduced  with  ex- 
traordinary rapidity  to  a  state  of  penury  such  as 
nations  very  seldom  know, — without  commerce,  with- 
out manufactures,  without  agriculture,  without  a  full 
population  ;  and  with  revenues  depending  upon  dis- 
tant mines,  with  which  her  communication  was  never 

10* 


114  LIFE  OF 

certain,  and  of  which  her  possession  was  but  ill  as- 
sured. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  be  denied,  that  all  these  evils 
were   increased   by  the   internal   constitution   of  the 
Spanish  monarchy.     Subdivided  into  a  number  of  pro- 
vinces or  kingdoms,  each  possessing  peculiar  privi- 
leges and  customary  laws,   every  part  of  Spain  was 
jealous  of  the  neighbouring  division,  and  all  jealous  of 
Castille,  as  the  predominant  kingdom  from  which  the 
royal  authority  governed  the  rest.     Every  state   was 
anxious  to  shelter  itself  under  its  privileges  from  bear- 
ing the  burthens  which  pressed  upon  the  rest;   and 
each,  pretending  to  much  greater  rights  than  had  ever 
been  conceded  to  them,  were  the  more  ready  to  break 
into  rebellion  the  moment  any  of  these  privileges  were 
questioned,    from   a  consciousness  of  many  of  them 
being  untenable,   and  all  of  them   unjust.     Another 
consequence  of  these  numerous  divisions  of  the  Spanish 
territory  was  such  a  complication  of  the  fiscal  system, 
and   such  an  obstruction  in  the  circulation  of  money, 
that  the  revenue  was  nearly  lost  in  collection,  and  in- 
superable obstacles  were  placed  in  the  way  of  internal 
traffic.     Multitudes  of  custom-houses  and  swarms  of 
custom-house  officers  disgraced  every  provincial  fron- 
tier, and  interrupted  the  passage  of  merchandise  in 
every  town;  and  instead  of  recognising  the  first  great 
object  in  fiscal  legislation — namely,  to  leave  industry 
as  free  as  possible,  while  the  burthen  of  taxation  is 
principally  cast  upon   accumulation — each  petty  state, 
in  its  jealousy  of  its  neighbour,  seemed  to  vie  with  the 
other  in   impeding  the  communication  between   one 
part  of  the  country  and  another,  in  making  the  trader 
pay  for  the  very  right  of  exerting  himself,  and  in  leav- 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  115 

ing  the  idle  exempt  from  all  contribution  to  the  neces- 
sities of  the  state.*  No  sooner  did  the  exigencies  of 
the  government  require  any  extraordinary  supply, 
however  justly  incurred  and  imperatively  necessary, 
than  the  states  of  each  province  prepared  to  resist,  to 
the  utmost  of  their  ability,  all  demands  of  either  pecu- 
niary or  military  contribution,  and  were  ready  rather 
to  fight  against  the  government  of  their  own  country, 
than  against  a  foreign  enemy. 

Thus,  whatever  were  the  evils  and  difficulties  which 
Richelieu  had  to  encounter  in  France,  Spain  offered 
her  minister  a  much  more  perplexing  task;  none  of 
the  provinces  were  actually  in  revolt,  though  many 
were  prepared  for  any  sort  of  disobedience,  and  none 
but  Castille  was  willing  to  contribute  any  thing  to  the 
support  of  the  state.  The  Spanish  minister,  however, 
wanted  either  the  courage  or  the  wickedness  to  stir 
any  portion  of  the  king's  subjects  into  insurrection  for 
the  purpose  of  reducing  them  to  more  thorough  sub- 
jection; and  he  suffered  himself  to  be  drawn  into  a 
general  war  ere  he  had  obtained  complete  command  of 
the  people,  from  which  he  was  to  obtain  resources  for 

*  The  most  luminous  and  extraordinary  view  of  the  deplorable 
state  of  Spain  at  a  much  later  period  is  given  in  a  little  book  called 
Pan  y  Toros,  "  Bread  and  Bulls,"  which  was  published  surrepti- 
tiously some  years  ago,  and  attributed  to  don  Juan  de  Jovellanos. 
It  was  lent  to  me  during  some  time,  by  my  late  talented  and  la- 
mented friend,  William  Woodhouse,  Esq.  but  I  have  never  been 
able  to  procure  another  copy,  though  the  extraordinary  vigour  of 
the  style,  the  mighty  and  overwhelming  eloquence  of  the  writer, 
and  his  deep  knowledge  of  all  the  secrets  of  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, made  me'most  anxious  to  possess  .a  work  unequalled  in  its 
kind  by  anything,  except,  perhaps,  one  or  two  of  the  letters  of 
Junius. 


116  LIFE  OF 

carrying  it  on.  Now,  however,  pressed  forward  by 
Richelieu,  who  knew  that  everyday  during  which  the 
war  could  be  prolonged,  added  to  the  difficulties  of 
Spain,  and  brought  on  the  ultimate  triumph  of  France, 
Olivarez  made  one  last  effort.  Crown  lands  were  sold 
in  Italy;  assistance  was  eagerly  demanded  of  the  states; 
new  loans  were  required  ;  the  currency  was  debased 
for  the  temporary  benefit  to  be  derived  from  a  trans- 
action which,  whatever  it  may  be  in  a  government, 
would  be  felonious  in  an  individual;  and  advantage 
being  taken  of  some  difficulties  in  which  France,  for 
the  time,  was  engaged,  Olivarez  pushed  the  war  in 
Italy  with  great  but  transitory  success. 

In  two  campaigns  the  duchess-regent  of  Savoy, 
trembling  between  the  grasping  ambition  of  Richelieu 
and  the  impatient  eagerness  of  her  husband's  brothers, 
saw  herself  stripped  of  almost  all  her  possessions,  her 
people  in  revolt,  her  liberty  threatened,  and  Spanish 
forces  in  possession  of  her  capital.  But  a  truce,  most 
fatal  to  Spain,  was  concluded  for  two  months,  the  en- 
terprising count  Harcourt  appeared  upon  the  scene, 
and  all  that  had  been  gained  by  Olivarez  .was  lost 
almost  as  quickly.  The  same  fate,  however,  awaited 
the  French  arms  in  Roussillon,  where  the  prince  de 
Conde  besieged  and  took  the  town  of  Salces,  and  one 
or  two  other  places ;  but  the  younger  Spinoia,  having 
been  sent  into  that  province  with  a  considerable  force, 
retook  Salces,  and  completely  defeated  Conde,  who 
attempted  to  interrupt  his  proceedings. 

Even  the  inventive  genius  of  Olivarez,  who  had 
long  found  resources  after  every  apparent  means  of 
supplying  funds  had  been  exhausted,  could  furnish  no 
new  expedient,  so  long  as  the  unjust  and  absurd  dis- 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  117 

tinctive  privileges  remained  in  force,  which  exempted 
various  detached  provinces  of  Spain  from  bearing  a 
part  in  efforts  that  were  necessary  for  the  preservation 
of  the  whole.  He  determined,  therefore,  to  assail 
those  privileges;  but  before  proceeding  to  extreme 
measures,  he  once  more  applied  for  support  to  Catalo- 
nia, as  one  of  the  richest  and  most  capable  of  the 
various  states  composing  the  Spanish  monarchy. 
Receiving  no  satisfaction,  he  at  once  ordered  the  Cas- 
tillian  troops,  who  had  just  defeated  the  prince  de 
Conde,  to  take  up  their  winter  quarters  in  that  pro- 
vince; and,  commanding  the  Catalonians  to  raise  and 
equip  six  thousand  soldiers  for  the  wars  of  Italy,  he 
assigned  them  their  proportion  of  the  expenses  of  the 
state,  enjoining  the  stales  to  raise  it,  by  a  decree  of  the 
king. 

Had  the  Castillian  troops  remained  tranquil  and  or- 
derly, overawing  the  Catalonians  by  their  presence 
and  their  discipline,  without  enraging  them  by  their 
excesses  and  their  insolence,  perhaps  Olivarez  might 
have  carried  through  his  bold  design,  and  annihilated, 
one  by  one,  the  destructive  privileges  of  the  various 
provinces.  But,  on  the  contrary,  they  committed 
every  sort  of  violence  and  injustice.  Their  pay  greatly 
in  arrear,  and  at  bitter  enmity  with  the  Catalonians, 
they  considered  every  act  of  pillage  or  of  brutality 
which  they  committed  but  a  just  compensation  to  them- 
selves, or  a  merited  infliction  on  their  stubborn  and 
tumultuous  neighbours.  The  Catalonians,  stirred  up 
to  vengeance,  sought  retribution  in  chance  combats, 
lost  their  dread  of  the  Castillian  troops  by  frequent 
contests  with  them,  and  were  excited  almost  to  frenzy 
by  their  violence  and  rapine.     In  the  mean  time,  the 


118  LIFE  OP 

states  of  Catalonia  refused  to  obey  the  royal  decree, 
and  sent  two  deputies  to  remonstrate  with  the  king 
and  his  minister.  These  messengers  unfortunately 
executed  their  commission  in  an  insolent  and  menacing 
tone;  and  Olivarez,  of  a  haughty  and  inflexible  cha- 
racter, caused  them  instantly  to  be  arrested. 

These  tidings  reached  Barcelona  at  the  moment 
when  some  fresh  outrage,  committed  by  the  Castillian 
soldiers,  had  excited  popular  indignation  to  the  highest 
pitch;  and  a  general  insurrection  was  the  immediate 
consequence.  The  viceroy  was  slain  upon  the  spot, 
and  a  negotiation  was  instantly  entered  into  with 
France  in  order  to  procure  support  in  rebellion.  The 
courage  of  Olivarez  did  not  fail  even  under  this  fresh 
misfortune:  all  the  disposable  troops  in  Spain  were 
instantly  directed  upon  Catalonia;  and  all  the  other 
provinces,  but  more  especially  Portugal,  were  ordered 
to  arm  for  the  suppression  of  the  revolt. 

Turbulent  subjects  and  interested  allies  are  always 
sure  to  take  advantage  of  the  moment  of  difficulty. 
The  Portuguese,  hating  with  even  more  bitter  animo- 
sity than  the  Catalonians,  the  yoke  of  Castille,  op- 
pressed by  Vasconcellos,  who  ruled  them  under  the 
vice-queen,  duchess  of  Mantua,  and  called  upon  to  aid 
in  suppressing  an  insurrection  to  which  they  looked 
with  pleasure  and  hope,  now  instantly  threw  off  the 
rule  of  Spain.  A  conspiracy  burst  forth,  which  had 
been  preparing  under  the  knowledge  and  advice  of 
Richelieu  for  more  than  three  years;  and  the  duke  of 
Braganza,  a  prince  of  no  great  abilities,  was  proclaimed 
king.  Few  great  excesses  were  committed:  Vascon- 
cellos, indeed,  was  made  a  sacrifice  to  the  fury  of  an 
oppressed  people;  but  the  duchess  of  Mantua,  whose 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  119 

gentleness  had  secured  her  the  affectionate  respect 
even  of  a  nation  which  suffered  under  her  rule,  though 
arrested  by  order  of  the  new  government,  was  treated 
with  reverence  and  kindness.  It  was  long  before 
Olivarez  ventured  to  inform  the  king  of  the  rising  of 
Portugal  against  his  authority,  as  he  could  not  conceive 
that  even  the  weak  and  toy-like  Philip  IV.  would 
bear  such  events  with  indifference.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  also,  that  he  gave  much  thought  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  communication  was  to  be  made;  and  at 
length,  thoroughly  acquainted  with  his  master's  cha- 
racter, he  told  him  what  had  occurred  in  a  joke.  "  The 
duke  of  Braganza  has  gone  mad,  sire,"  he  said,  "and 
has  suffered  himself  to  be  proclaimed  king  of  Portugal. 
His  imprudence  will  be  worth  a  confiscation  of  twelve 
millions  to  your  majesty."  The  king's  only  reply 
was,  "  It  must  be  looked  to  !"  and  he  turned  to  other 
things  as  if  nothing  extraordinary  had  occurred. 

To  provide  against  the  necessities  of  the  moment, 
however,  was  far  less  easy  than  the  king  imagined. 
Castille  had  been  already  drained  of  troops  for  the 
purpose  of  repressing  the  insurrection  in  Catalonia  : 
no  sufficient  force  could  be  collected  to  recover  Por- 
tugal, and  the  spirit  of  disaffection  was  spreading  ra- 
pidly in  other  provinces.  Fortunately  for  Olivarez, 
that  spirit  showed  itself  more  decidedly  in  the  dis- 
tricts bordering  on  Portugal  than  in  any  other  quarter; 
and  the  small  body  of  troops  which  the  count-duke- 
could  send  to  the  Portuguese  frontier,  though  utterly 
inefficient  in  reducing  that  country  once  more  to  sub- 
mit to  the  Spanish  government,  was  sufficient  to  re- 
strain Andalusia  from  breaking  out  also  into  revolt. 
That  province,  however,  was  upon  the  very  eve  of 


120  LIFE  OF 

insurrection,  when  a  happy  accident  discovered  to 
Olivarez  this  new  danger.  No  sooner  had  the  duke 
of  Braganza  been  proclaimed  king  of  Portugal,  than, 
by  the  advice  of  the  same  wise  friends  who  had  raised 
him  with  so  little  difficulty  to  the  throne  of  his  an- 
cestors, he  sent  the  marquis  of  Ayamonte  to  Anda- 
lusia, which  was  then  under  the  government  of  the 
duke  of  Medina  Sidonia,  His  object  was  to  divert 
the  attention  of  the  Spanish  court  from  Portugal,  by 
inciting  that  nobleman,  whose  territories  were  im- 
mense, to  erect  Andalusia  into  a  separate  state,  and 
assume  the  sovereignty  thereof  himself.  The  design 
was  bold  in  every  respect,  especially  as  the  duke  of 
Medina  was  the  near  relation  of  the  count-duke  Oliva- 
rez. Nevertheless,  the  persuasions  of  Ayamonte  and 
the  facility  of  the  enterprise  he  proposed — while 
Spain,  exhausted  by  external  wars,  and  torn  by  in- 
ternal contentions,  seemed  ready  to  crumble  spon- 
taneously into  fragments — were  sufficient  to  seduce 
the  ambitious  duke.  Ayamonte  believed  his  success 
complete,  and  sent  off  a  monk  to  Lisbon  with  an  ac- 
count of  his  negotiation;  but  either  through  treachery, 
or  from  vanity,  the  monk  betrayed  his  trust,  and  in- 
formation of  the  conspiracy  reached  the  ears  of  Oliva- 
rez in  time. 

On  the  same  day  Medina  Sidonia  received  a  letter 
from  the  minister,  calling  him  to  Madrid,  and  news 
that  several  Castillian  regiments  were  marching  into 
Andalusia.  For  some  time  he  hesitated  as  to  whether 
he  should  obey  or  fly  to  Portugal  ;  but,  at  length,  de- 
termined on  the  former  course.  He  accordingly  set 
out  for  Madrid,  and  proceeded  at  once  to  the  house 
of  his  cousin  Olivarez,  by  whom  he  was  received  with 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  121 

kindness,  and  assured  that  a  complete  confession  of 
his  errors  would  ensure  him  a  full  pardon.  This  he 
accordingly  made,  disclosing  the  whole  plan  which 
had  been  organised  for  the  raising  of  Andalusia  ;  and 
Olivarez  immediately  brought  him  to  the  presence  of 
the  king.  Here,  again,  he  repeated  his  former  state- 
ment, acknowledged  his  crime,  and,  casting  himself 
at  the  monarch's  feet,  besought  his  clemency  with 
tears.  The  king  is  said  to  have  wept  also  ;  but  at  all 
events  he  granted  the  criminal  noble  immediate  par- 
don. Olivarez,  however,  more  severe  than  his  master, 
exacted  that  the  duke  should  remain  at  Madrid,  while 
garrisons  were  thrown  into  the  strong  places  of  Anda- 
lusia ;  and  the  revolt  was  stifled  in  its  birth. 

All  these  steps  were  prudent  and  wise  on   the  part 
of  the  minister;  but  the  conspiracy  of  Andalusia  ter- 
minated in  an  act  which  would  have   been  absurd  in 
any  other  country   than   Spain,  and  which  was  not 
very  sensible  even  there.     To  wipe  off  all  imputation 
from  his  character,  the  duke  of  Medina  Sidonia  was 
directed  by  Olivacez  to  challenge  the  king  of  Portu- 
gal, who  had  attempted  to  seduce  him  from  his  alle- 
giance ;  and  although  that  nobleman  sought  to  excuse 
himself,  he  was  at  length  forced  to  comply.     Olivarez 
then  drew  up,  with  his  own  hand,  the  cartel,  in  man- 
ner of  manifesto,  treating  the  Portuguese  monarch, 
however,  merely  as  duke  of  Braganza.     Copies  of  this 
were  sent  to  all  European  courts;    and  on  the  day 
appointed,  the  duke  of  Medina  presented  himself  at 
Valencia  de  Alcantara,  armed  at  all  points,  and  ac- 
companied by  a  number  of  witnesses.     The  king  of 
Portugal,  however,  of  course  did  not  appear  ;  and  the 

vol.  ii.  11 


122  LIFE  OF 

farce,   which   might   have  proved  a  tragedy,   ended 
there. 

In   the   meantime  the   marquis   de   los  Velez  had 
taken  the  command  of  the  army  sent  against  the  Cata- 
lonian  rebels;  and  a  willing  instrument  of  the  minis- 
ter's  vengeance,    he    exercised    the    most    barbarous 
cruelties  as  he  marched  on  into  the  refractory  province. 
The  town  of  Tortosa  was  taken  and  sacked   by  his 
soldiers,   and   the  people  subjected   to  every  sort  of 
violence.     Fire,  massacre,  and  desolation  marked  his 
progress;    but,  instead  of  inspiring  crouching  terror 
and  trembling  self-abandonment,   his  conduct  roused 
up  lion-like  revenge.     Hurrying  on  the  negotiations 
with  France,    the    Catalonians    accepted    any    terms 
which  Richelieu  chose  to  offer,   declared  themselves 
subject   to    the   French   crown,   and  pronounced  the 
authority  of  Spain  at  an  end  for  ever  in  Catalonia.     A 
small  corps  of  French  troops  was  immediately  thrown 
forward  from  Roussillon,  and   advanced  to  Taragona 
under  the  command  of  D'Espenan,  a  general  who  had 
shown  great  skill  and  courage  at  Salces.     The  Cata- 
lonians, with  the  usual  bravado  of  their  nation,  had 
represented  their  army  as  a  thousand-fold  stronger, 
both   in  numbers  and  discipline,  than  it  really  was ; 
and  the  French  officers  were  in  consequence  lamenta- 
bly disappointed  when  they  saw  the  militia  which  was 
to  support  them,  and  still  more  disappointed   when 
they  beheld  that  militia  in  face  of  an  enemy.     As  a 
last  resource  against  the  large  Spanish  force  under  Los 
Velez,  D'Espenan  threw  himself  into  Taragona,  in 
opposition  to  the  advice  of  Besangon,  who  was  em- 
ployed, on  the  part  of  France,  in  organising  the  Cata- 
lonians.    Here  he  was  almost  immediately  besieged  : 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  123 

and,  being  destitute  both  of  provisions  and  ammuni- 
tion, was  soon  forced  to  sign  a  capitulation,  whereby 
he  agreed  to  evacuate  the  territory  of  Spain  with  all 
the  troops  which  had  entered  Catalonia  from  France. 
This  convention  he  executed,  notwithstanding  all 
remonstrances  and  petitions  on  the  part  of  the  Cata- 
lonians;  and,  retreating  at  once  from  Taragona  to 
the  French  frontier,  he  abandoned  the  field  to  the 
enemy. 

Had  Olivarez  now  seized  the  favourable  moment, 
while   the    Catalonians   were   struck    with    fear,   and 
abandoned  to  their  own  resources — had  he  offered  a 
general  amnesty,  and  followed  up  his  first  successes 
with  acts  of  clemency,  it  is  probable — it  is  more  than 
probable — that  Catalonia  would  at  once  have  been  paci- 
fied,  and  that  her  dangerous  privileges  would  in  part 
have  been  sacrificed  to  the  desire  and  necessity  of  peace. 
The  rest  of  the  various  kingdoms  which  composed  the 
monarchy,  terrified  by  the  ill  success  of  so  promising 
an  insurrection,  could  have  offered  but  little  resistance 
to  the  will  of  the  minister,  and  the  great  scheme  of  Oli- 
varez might  have  been  executed.     But  the  count-duke 
sought  revenge  as  much  as  advantage  ;  and   he  was 
soon  taught  that,  with  great  bodies  of  men  at  least,  if 
not  with  individuals,  hatred  can  become  a  stronger 
a  continuance  of  resistance :  the  Catalonians  sustained 
passion  than  fear.     Continued  severity  only  produced 
themselves  till  the  French  forces  returned  in  greater 
numbers,  and  with  more  experienced   commanders : 
the  tide  of  success  turned  against  the  Castillians  ;  and 
Los  Velez  was  recalled  to  give  place  to   Leganez, 
who,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  had  encountered  the 
armies  of  France  with  success. 


124  LIFE  OF 

The  opposition  of  Richelieu  and  Olivarez  had  by 
this  time  grown  into  personal  rivalry,  and  had  begot- 
ten personal  hatred;  and,  as  the  Spanish  minister  saw 
himself  assailed  by  conspiracies,  fomented  by  his  rival, 
he  determined  to  pursue  towards  his  enemies  the  same 
system.  He  had  already,  on  more  than  one  occasion, 
lent  some  small  aid  to  the  duke  of  Orleans  in  his  weak 
efforts  against  the  French  minister;  had  encouraged  re- 
bellion in  France  wherever  it  had  broken  out ;  and  had 
shown  a  generous  consideration  for  all  the  French 
exiles  who  sought  the  Spanish  territory.  But  he  now 
took  more  active  measures;  and  learning  the  discontent 
of  the  count  de  Soissons  and  the  duke  of  Bouillon,  he 
made  them  unbounded  offers  of  assistance,  and  excited 
them  by  every  means  to  light  the  flame  of  civil  war  in 
France.  Their  own  inclinations  seconded  his  sugges- 
tions, and  the  confederates  of  Sedan  were  soon  in  arms 
against  Richelieu.  Spain  kept  her  promise  punctually: 
arms,  troops,  and  money  were  liberally  supplied ;  the 
battle  of  the  Mar'fee  was  fought  and  won,  and  the  fate 
of  France  trembled  for  a  moment  in  the  balance.  The 
fortune  or  the  skill  of  Richelieu,  however,  averted  the 
impending  evils.  The  count  de  Soissons  was  slain 
after  the  victory  was  gained ;  the  duke  of  Bouillon 
hastened  to  make  his  peace;  and  the  advantages  ob- 
tained by  Spain  were  few  and  trifling. 

In  Portugal,  too,  the  plans  of  Olivarez  were  frus- 
trated. The  conspiracy  which  placed  John  IV.  on 
the  throne  of  that  country  had  been  conducted  by  his 
wife  and  his  friends  in  the  utmost  secrecy ;  so  that  some 
have  even  supposed  the  prince  himself  was  unaware 
of  the  machinations  in  his  favour,  till  the  way  to  the 
throne  was  opened  at  once  before  him.    Many  persons, 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  125 

however,  of  very  great  influence  and  wealth,  were  kept 
in  ignorance  of  his  views  ;  and  though  they  afterwards, 
either  tacitly  or  actively,  acknowledged  his  title,  they 
nevertheless  felt  angry  and  jealous  at  seeing  one  of 
their  own  order  suddenly  raised  to  authority  over 
them.  Amongst  these  personages,  the  principal  were 
the  duke  of  Camina  and  the  marquis  of  Villareal,  both 
of  whom  were  remotely  descended  from  the  ancient 
sovereigns  of  Portugal ;  and  many  other  nobles  shared 
in  their  feelings,  and  attached  themselves  to  their  views. 
Thus  was  one  strong  party  formed  in  Lisbon  against 
the  new  sovereign,  on  his  very  accession  to  the  throne. 
Another,  however,  existed,  comprising  still  greater 
numbers,  and  possessing  influence  of  a  different  kind, 
consisting  of  all  those  who  had  been  raised  and  sup- 
ported by  the  Spanish  government  during  its  possession 
of  Portugal.  Some  of  these  had  lost  their  offices,  and 
some  had  not;  but  all  were  attached,  either  by  grati- 
tude or  interest,  to  Spain  ;  and  at  the  head  of  this  party 
appeared  the  archbishop  and  the  grand  inquisitor  De 
Castro.  Such  were  the  favourable  elements  that  Oli- 
varez  found  ready  for  the  formation  of  a  conspiracy, 
which,  had  it  succeeded,  would  have  cast  Portugal  for 
ever  into  the  power  of  Spain ;  and  never  did  any  one 
labour  more  skilfully  to  cement,  strengthen,  and  direct 
one  of  those  great  and  fearful  engines  than  did  the 
count-duke  on  the  present  occasion.  Could  he  have 
been  present  himself,  with  that  peculiar  combination 
of  cautious  suspicion  and  resolute  boldness  which  cha- 
racterised him,  it  is  scarcely  to  be  doubted  that  the 
plot  would  have  succeeded;  but  obliged  to  guide  it 
from  a  distance,  and  to  trust  to  inferior  agents,  Olivarez 
could  not  prevent  the  secret  from  being  divulged  to 

11* 


126  LIFE    OF 

several  persons  unworthy  of  confidence,  and  that  secret 
was  consequently  betrayed.  The  marquis  of  Ayamonte 
is  said  to  have  discovered  and  revealed  it  to  the  queen? 
and  instant  measures  were  taken  to  guard  against  the 
conspiracy  and  arrest  the  conspirators.  A  horrid  scene 
of  butchery  then  took  place,  and  both  the  scaffolds  and 
the  prisons  flowed  with  gore ;  a  degree  of  remorseless 
cruelty  being  shown  by  the  government,  which  sets 
in  the  fairest  light  the  moderation  displayed  by  the 
people  at  the  time  of  the  insurrection,  and  which  is 
not  to  be  excused  by  the  assertion,  that  the  conspira- 
tors would  have  shown  themselves  equally  sanguinary 
if  they  had  been  successful. 

In  the  mean  time  an  attempt  had  been  made  at 
Naples  to  induce  the  people  of  that  country,  then  a 
Spanish  possession,  to  follow  the  example  of  Portugal 
and  Catalonia.  Measures  had  been  concerted  with 
France.,  and  a  French  fleet  was  sent  to  favour  the  pro- 
posed insurrection ;  but  don  Francesco  de  Mello,  who^ 
commanded  there,  overawed  the  conspirators  by  his 
firmness  and  decision,  and  not  an  arm  was  raised 
against  his  government.  He  even  caused  the  prince 
of  Sanzo,  by  whom  the  malecontents  had  been  insti- 
gated and  directed,  to  be  carried  off  from  Rome,  and 
brought  his  head  to  the  block.  While,  at  home,  Oli- 
varez  was  struggling  with  increasing  difficulties;  in 
Flanders,  the  cardinal-infant  was,  with  skill  and  cou- 
rage, calm  perseverance  and  ready  promptitude,  de- 
fending the  territory  committed  to  his  charge,  against 
the  superior  forces  of  France  on  the  one  side,  and  of 
Holland  on  the  other.  Unfortunately  for  his  country, 
his  career  was  destined  to  be  but  short ;  and  having 
been  taken  ill  while  besieging  Aire,  in  Artois,  he  left 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ. 


127 


the  command  of  the  army  to  Francesco  de  Mello,  who 
had  by  this  time  joined  him,  and  retired  to  Brussels, 
where  he  died  on  the  9th  of  November,  1641. 

External  successes  could  do  but  little,  however,  to 
counterbalance   internal    difficulties,   and   those   diffi- 
culties were  now  reaching  their  crisis.      In  various 
engagements  which  took  place  in  Catalonia,  the  Spanish 
armies  were  defeated  by  the  French:  the  Catalonians 
themselves  became  better  soldiers  under  the  severe 
discipline  of  necessity;  and  though  the  Spanish  fleet 
defeated  the  French  oflf  Taragona,  and  saved  that  city 
from  the  enterprises  of  La  Mothe,  the  general  result 
of  the  campaign  was  decidedly  unfavourable  to  Spain. 
At  the  same  time,  the  French  were  making  progress  in 
Roussillon;  and  in  the  year   1642  the  king  himself 
prepared  to  invade  that  small  territory,  with  the  evi- 
dent  intention  of  dissevering   it   from   the    Spanish 
crown.       Several   minor  places   having  been   taken, 
siege  was  laid  toPerpignan  :  the  people  of  the  country 
were  not  at  all  unwilling  to  pass  under  the  dominion 
of  France;  and  another  serious  misfortune  threatened 
the  ministry  of  Olivarez.     At  this  time  was  concerted 
the  conspiracy  of  Cinq  Mars,  which  has  been  already 
spoken  of  fully  ;  and  the  count-duke  eagerly  entered 
into  the  views  of  the  French  malecontents,  and  pro- 
mised them   every  assistance  they  demanded.     The 
failure  of  the  conspiracy,   the  arrest  and  execution  of 
some  of  the  conspirators,   and  the  fall  of  Perpignan, 
came  rapidly  one  upon  the  other,  showing  the  fortune 
of  Richelieu  still  triumphing  over  all  the  best  laid 
schemes  of  his  adversaries. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Spain  when  the  enemies 
of  Olivarez,  taking  advantage  of  his  misfortunes  and 


r 


128  life  or 

his  faults,  determined  to  strike  the  blow  which  was  to 
hurl  him  from  the  summit  of  power ;  but  ere  we  speak 
of  the  actual  fall  of  the  count-duke,  it  may  be  necessary 
to  examine  briefly  the  immediate  causes  which  brought 
it  about. 

Monsieur  Salvandy  thinks*  that  Olivarez  had  formed 
one  general  system  for  establishing  the  absolute  power 
of  the  king  upon  the  ruins  of  the  privileges  of  the 
various  provinces,  and  upon  the  debasement  of  the 
grandees.  Nothing  is  so  seducing  as  that  spirit  of 
generalisation  which  pervades  the  French  school  of 
history;  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  that,  in  the  present 
instance,  it  has  led  the  learned  and  talented  writer, 
whom  I  have  just  mentioned,  into  a  considerable  error, 
hurrying  him  beyond  the  point  where  fact  stops  and 
imagination  is  left  to  pursue  her  way  alone.  I  believe 
that  all  statesmen  of  eminence  have  proposed  to  them- 
selves the  general  attainment  of  certain  great  objects, 
but  that  those  who  have  sought  such  objects  by  a  pre- 
determined and  consistent  scheme  are  much  fewer 
than  we  are  apt  to  imagine.  That  Olivarez  contem- 
plated doing  away  the  iniquitous  and  injurious  privi- 
leges of  the  provinces,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  every 
act  of  his  ministry  speaks  such  a  determination ;  but 
that  he  ever  thought  of  rendering  his  sovereign  abso- 
lute by  the  depression  of  the  grandees,  is  not  only  un- 
supported as  a  supposition  by  any  direct  evidence,  but 
is  opposed  to  many  of  his  proceedings.  That  almost 
all  the  grandees  of  Spain  were  inimical  to  him,  there 
can   be  no  doubt;  but  their  animosity  might  proceed 

> 
*  Biographie  Universelle,  t.  xxxi.  p.  575. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  129 

from  a  thousand  other  causes,  without  any  view  on  his 
part  to  the  destruction  of  the  class. 

Olivarez  was  of  a  suspicious  and  a  jealous  nature; 
and,  from  his  very  first  entrance  into  power,  he  applied 
himself  to  shut  out  from  any  share  of  the  royal  favour 
every  one  but  persons  devoted  to  himself.     This  was 
enough  at  once  to  range  the  whole  excluded  class  of 
grandees  amongst  his  enemies.  Envy,  jealousy,  avarice, 
ambition,  all  combined  to  make  them  look  with  cold  dis- 
like upon  a  man  who  exercised  the  whole  power  of  the 
state,  enjoyed  all  the  favour  of  the  court,  and  barred  the 
path  to  wealth,  influence,  and  activity,  against  every 
one  but  his  own  particular  friends.     Such  was  the  first 
foundation  of  their  enmity;  but,  as  the  administration  of 
Olivarez  proceeded,  other  causes  were  added  to  increase 
their  hatred.    Olivarez  at  once  struck  at  all  the  corrupt 
practices  of  former  ministers.     The  wealth  of  India 
poured  out  at  his  feet  would  not  have  bought  place, 
pension  or  dignity  from  the  count-duke;  none  of  his 
friends,  none  of  his  servants,  was  allowed  to  carry  on  a 
trade  in  the  favours  of  the  court,  as  had  been  the  case 
in  the  days  of  the  duke  of  Lerma.  Such  a  man  was,  of 
all  others,  the  one  to  be  detested  and  assailed  in  pros- 
perity, and  to  be  hated  and  respected  in  adversity.  As 
misfortunes  fell  upon  him,  Olivarez  was  also  forced 
into  a  number  of  steps,  which  at  once  increased  the 
dislike  of  the  grandees,  and  gave  them  greater  power 
to  injure  him.   Often  keeping  back  from  the  ear  of  the 
king  the  tidings  of  any  unfavourable  event,  till  he  found 
a  good  moment  for  communicating  it,  and  always  leav- 
ing him  in  ignorance  of  those  negotiations  which  turned 
out  unsuccessful,  and  those  occasional  errors  of  judg-  ' 
ment  into  which  every  minister  must  at  times  fall; 


130  LIFE  OP 

the  count-duke  dared  not  suffer  any  one  to  approach 
the  monarch,  who  might  be  bold  enough  to  reveal  the 
thing  which  he  wished  to  keep  secret.  The  grandees 
were  therefore  shut  out  from  any'private  communication 
with  the  king;  and,  when  they  appeared  at  court,  were 
treated  with  a  degree  of  insolence  and  harshness  which 
Castillian  pride  could  not  support.  The  pomp  and  os- 
tentation of  the  minister  himself  added  fresh  matter; 
and  the  pretensions  of  his  natural  son,  don  Henry  de 
Guzman,  made  the  cup  overflow.  Few  of  the  grandees 
appeared  at  the  court  at  all;  their  duties  in  various 
hereditary  offices  were  performed  but  negligently,  and 
every  excuse  was  embraced  for  avoiding  the  society  of 
the  minister. 

But  the  most  redoubtable  enemy  which  Olivarez  had 
yet  to  encounter,  was  one  whom  he  could  not  exclude 
from  the  presence  of  the  king — namely,  the  queen  her- 
self, who,  with  talents  and  virtues  which  rendered  her 
well  worthy  of  every  confidence,  had  been  kept  at  a 
distance  from  all  public  affairs,  and  shut  out  from  all 
knowledge  of  what  was  passing,  except  through  the 
uncertain  channels  of  rumour.     In  order  to  control 
her  communications  with  the  court,  and  even  to  fetter 
her   conversations   with   the   king;    the   duchess    of 
Olivarez  had  been  appointed  both  principal  lady  of  her 
bedchamber  and  governess  of  the  infanta.     A  bold, 
harsh,  and  haughty  woman,  the  duchess,  by  her  intru- 
sive daring,  governed  the  queen's  household,  and  pre- 
vented any  secret  influence  rising  up  in  that  quarter 
against  the  authority  of  her  husband  ;  while  Olivarez 
had  taken  care  to  instil  into  the  mind  of  the  weak 
monarch,  from  his  earliest  youth,  that  women  were 
unfit  to  meddle  at  all  in  any  matters  of  importance. 
Although  his  own  wife  might  have  taught  him  the  re- 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  131 

verse,  it  was  his  common  axiom — "  Men  to  act,  monks 
to  pray,  and  women  to  bear  children!" 

But  the  time  had  now  arrived  when  the  queen  felt 
bound  by  her  duty  to  her  husband  to  interfere,  and  to 
rouse  him  at  least  so  far  as  to  examine  with  his  own 
eyes  into  the  state  of  his  own  affairs.  It  may  be  doubted, 
indeed,  whether  the  result  of  the  steps  she  now  took 
was  politic  or  impolitic,  whether  the  removal  of  Oli- 
varez,  at  the  very  moment  that  death  had  taken  from 
his  path  the  great  predominant  spirit  of  those  days, 
and  left  the  way  to  the  objects  for  which  he  had  always 
striven  open  and  free  from  the  shadow  of  Richelieu, 
did  or  did  not  produce  evils  to  Spam:  but  no  one  can 
deny  that,  seeing  her  husband's  dominions  dismember- 
ed day  by  da)-, — seeing  Roussillon,  Portugal,  Catalonia 
lost;  Artois  almost  conquered,  Alsace  in  the  hands  of 
France,  Luxemburg  overrun;  Ormuz,  Goa,  Fernam- 
buco,   Brazil    possessed    by  the  enemy ;  Naples  and 
Sicily  upon  the  eve  of  a  revolt,  and  nothing  but  dis- 
content, insurrection,  and  resistance  in  Spain,  beggary 
in  the  exchequer,  and  desertion,  disease,  and  scarcity 
in  the  army;  while  her  husband,  amusing  himself  with 
idle  pleasures,  trusted  the  whole  business  of  the  state 
to  one  man, — no  one  can  deny  that,  with  this  scene 
around  her,  it  was  her  duty  to  call  the  king's  attention 
to  the  condition  of  his  people  and  his  Jiingdom.     It 
must  also  be  acknowledged  that  she  acted  with  the  ut- 
most gentleness  in  pursuit  of  her  purpose,  and  strove 
to  open  the  king's  eyes  without  seeking  the  ruin  or 
the  blood  of  a  minister  who  had  done  her  injustice. 

The  queen's  first  step  was  to  induce  the  monarch  to 
visit  the  army  destined  to  act  against  Catalonia;  but  to 
bring  him  to  such  a  resolution,  and  to  support  him 

t 


132  LIFE  OF 

therein  against  all  the  opposition  of  Olivarez,  cost  her 
no  slight  exertion  of  skill  and  perseverance.     In  the 
army,  she  well  knew  that  the  minister's  measures  for 
keeping  the  king  at  a  distance  from  his  subjects  would 
be  more  or  less  difficult  of  execution,  and  she  trusted 
that  Philip  would  there  meet  with   men   who  would 
disclose  to  him  the  real  state  of  the  country.     At  the 
same  time  she  doubted  not  that,  during  the  absence  of 
the  king  and  the  minister,  the  government  of  Madrid 
would  be  intrusted  to  her;  and  that,  even  if  no  very 
great  power  thus  fell  into  her  hands,  she  would  be  able 
to  gain  much  information  which   might  prove  highly 
beneficial  at  an  after  period.     Some  occasion,  too,  of 
serving  the  state  could  hardly  fail  of  presenting  itself 
during  her  government;  and  at  all  events,  such  politi- 
cal discussions  would  be  absolutely  necessary  between 
herself  and  her  husband,  after  his  return,  as  would  ena- 
ble her  to  speak  more  freely  than  she  had  ever  found 
occasion  to  do  on  the  condition  and  prospects  of  the' 
country.     Notwithstanding   bold  and  even   impudent 
opposition  on  the  part  of  Olivarez,  Philip  persisted  in 
the  resolution,  which  had  been  suggested  by  his  wife, 
although  every  member  of  the  council,  except  the  mar- 
quis de  Grana,  imperial  ambassador,  who  had   been 
called  to  give  his  opinion  by  the  express  order  of  the 
king,   opposed   the  proposed  journey  into   Arragon. 
Finding  that  he  could  not  prevail  by  direct  opposition, 
Olivarez  determined  to  prevent  the  king's  expedition 
from  proving  disadvantageous  to  his  views,  by  strata- 
gem; and  leading  him  first  to  Aranjuez,  and  next  to 
Molina,  he  amused  him  with  hunting  and  a  variety  of 
other  pastimes,  till  everything  was  prepared  at  Sara- 
gosa.     He  then  led  the  king  to  that  city,   where  he 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  133 

kept  him  very  nearly  as  far  from  any  knowledge  of  the 
real  state  of  the  country  as  ever,  on  the  pretext  of  the 
enemy  being  so  powerful  in  the  neighbourhood  as  to 
render  it  dangerous  for  the  monarch  to  visit  the  camp. 
Surrounded  by  the  creatures  of  the  count-duke,  Philip 
passed  his  days  in  a  sort  of  splendid  imprisonment, 
amusing  himself  in  seeing  his  subjects  play  at  tennis 
under  his  windows,  while  his  minister,  wTith  twelve 
carriages  and  200  guards,  proceeded  daily  to  the  head- 
quarters of  the  army,  and  acted  the  part  of  king.  From 
the  same  windows,  however,  at  night,  Philip  beheld 
the  smoke  and  flames  of  the  towns  and  villages  set  on 
fire  by  the  enemy  rising  up  before  him ;  and  after  a  long 
interval  of  tedious  inactivity,  he  returned  to  his  capital, 
assured  that  the  people  were  suffering,  but  ignorant  of 
the  cause. 

Everything,  however,  was  prepared  at  Madrid  to 
open  the  king's  eyes.  In  that  city  the  queen  was 
in  the  meanwhile  labouring  with  activity  and  wisdom, 
not  only  to  prepare  the  means  which  wrought  the 
fall  of  the  minister,  but  to  excite  the  people  to  support 
the  monarchy.  Suddenly  emerging  from  the  solitude 
to  which  she  had  previously  confined  herself,  she 
mingled  with  the  populace — she  courted  the  nobles — 
she  encouraged  the  soldiery.  Her  graceful  suavity, 
her  frank  and  generous  zeal,  and  her  confident  reli- 
ance on  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  people,  won  all 
hearts,  opened  all  treasures,  edged  all  swords  in  her 
behalf;  and  before  Philip  returned,  she  had  raised 
for  his  service  a  more  considerable  army,  and  ob- 
tained for  his  support  a  larger  contribution,  than 
Olivarez  had  been  able  to  do  in  several  years.  Such 
actions  won  the  confidence  of  her  husband,  and  pre- 

VOL.   II.  12 


134  LIFE  OP 

pared  his  ear  to  listen  to  her  representations.  How 
far  those  representations  went,  we  cannot  tell ;  but 
she  certainly  urged  that  Olivarez  had  been  the  most 
unfortunate  minister  that  Spain  had  ever  known,  andQ 
that  he  was  hated  alike  by  the  highest  and  the  lowest 
classes. 

Lest  her  own  opinion  should  be  subject  to  suspicion 
on  account  of  the  severity  with  which  she  had  been 
treated  by  the  minister,  she  called  upon  the  monarch 
to  question  his  grandees,  pointing  particularly  to  some 
of  the  connexions   of  the  minister  himself,  who  most 
strongly  and  eagerly  corroborated  the  queen's  state- 
ment against  their  own  relation.     But  it  must  be  re- 
membered, that   the  count-duke,    by  legitimating   his 
natural  son  don  Henry,  had  given   mortal  offence  to 
his  family,  especially  to  that  part  thereof  which  had 
hoped  to  succeed  to  his  wealth,  and  therefore  his  own 
brother-in-law,  the  marquis  de  Carpio,  was  one  of  the 
first  to  bear  testimony  against  him.      The  imperial 
ambassador  added  all  the  weight  of  his  master's  name 
to  the  party  formed  to  ruin  a  man   whose  first  great 
object  through  life  had   been  the  aggrandizement  of 
the  house  of  Austria.     Still  it  would  appear,  that  for 
some  weeks   nobody  dared  to  accuse  Olivarez  openly 
of  misconduct ;    but  at  length,   the    minister,  seeing 
that  a   cabal   was   forming  against  him  in  the  royal 
household,  and   attributing  a  great  share  of  it  to  the 
king's  nurse,  a  personage  of  considerable  importance 
in  a  Spanish  court,  caused   her  to  be  dismissed  from 
the  palace  upon  some  fair  pretext.     At  the  same  time 
boldly  remarking  the   king's   gloom  and  depression, 
he  demanded  permission  to  retire  from  a  station  which 
was  so  full  of  fatigues  and  so  void  of  all  enjoyments. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  135 

The  king  refused  his  request,  merely  replying,  "We 
have  both  need,  count,  to  seek  diligently  for  reme- 
dies to  our  ills." 

Shortly  after  this,  tidings  reached  the  court,  which 
might  well  raise  the  drooping  spirits  of  the  count- 
duke,  and  renew  his  hopes  and  projects.      The  death 
of  Richelieu,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1642,  was  an- 
nounced as  one  of  the  greatest  advantages  which  had 
occurred  to  Spain  for  many  years ;  and  it  is  more 
than  probable,  that  had  Olivarez  been  still  retained  in 
power,  he  might  have  accomplished  in  the  end  the 
great  designs  he  meditated  from  the  first ;  for  Mazarin 
was  then  far  inferior  to  him  in  vigour  of  mind,  in 
decision  of  character,  and  in  political  experience.     But 
the  stream,  which   had  long  borne  him   forward  but 
slowly,  had  now  turned  against  him.     The  duchess 
of  Mantua,   whom  he  had  carefully  kept  from  the 
court  after  she  had  been  suffered  to  return  to  Spain 
from  Portugal,  and  whom  he  had  treated  with  brutal 
and  ungentlemanly  severity  and   neglect,   made  her 
escape  by  night  from  the  place  of  her  exile,  and  sud- 
denly presented  herself  in  Madrid  in  a  hired  carriage, 
and  with  a  suite  little  worthy  of  a  princess.      Not- 
withstanding all  the  minister's  efforts  to  prevent  her 
from  telling  her  own  history  to  the  king,   she  found 
an  opportunity  of  so  doing  in  the  apartments  of  the 
queen.     Facts  were  then  made  known  to  Philip  con- 
cerning the  loss  of  Portugal,  and  the  imprudent  care- 
lessness of  the  count-duke  in  regard  to  that  kingdom, 
which  shook  all  his  old  prepossessions  in  favour  of 
Olivarez.     Letters  that  he  had  never  heard  of,  warn- 
ings that  he  had  never  received,  were  proved  to  have 
been  sent  by  the  duchess;  and  the  most  favourable 


136  LIFE  OF  f 

construction  that  could  be  put  upon  the  conduct  of 
Olivarez  was,  that  that  minister  had  treated  the  mo- 
narch as  a  child.  / 

Still,  however,  the  king  hesitated  ;  but  new  dis- 
asters fell  upon  his  armies  in  Catalonia  and  Arragon  ; 
and  at  length  donna  Anna  de  Guevara,  his  nurse, 
found  her  way  into  the  palace  ;  and  stationing  herself 
in  a  corridor  through  which  the  king  passed  daily  at 
a  certain  hour  in  proceeding  from  his  own  to  the 
queen's  apartments,  she  cast  herself  at  the  monarch's 
feet,  when  he  appeared,  and  besought  him  to  hear  her. 
Philip  raised  her  with  kindness,  and  bade  her  speak 
her  wishes  ;  whereupon  she  replied,  that  she  did  not 
come  to  seek  graces  at  his  royal  hand,  but  to  render 
him  the  greatest  service  that  the  crown  of  Spain  could 
receive.  She  had  given  her  milk  to  nourish  him  in 
his  infancy,  she  said,  using  the  bold  figures  of  the 
south,  and  she  was  now  ready  to  spill  her  blood  if 
necessary  for  his  service.  It  was  on  this  account  that 
she  came  to  tell  him  truths,  which  no  one,  who  did  not 
feel  as  a  mother  towards  him,  would  dare  to  tell.  She 
then  went  on  to  detail,  in  powerful  language,  all  the 
misfortunes  which  overwhelmed  Spain  ;  and,  in  the 
end,  declared  that  these  were  the  punishments  with 
which  God  had  visited  him,  for  leaving  entirely  to 
another  the  discharge  of  those  duties  which  Heaven 
had  imposed  upon  him  for  the  benefit  of  the  country. 
She  besought  him  then  to  issue  from  the  state  of  tute- 
lage in  which  he  was  kept,  and  not  to  provoke  farther 
the  anger  of  the  Almighty  by  suffering  his  country  to 
be  lost,  his  subjects  maltreated,  and  the  prince,  his 
son,  perhaps  to  be  driven  ultimately  into  exile,  with 
scarcely  the  fortune  of  a  private  gentleman. 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  137 

The  king  listened  with  attention,  and  replying, 
u  You  have  spoken  the  truth,"  led  the  way  into  the 
queen's  apartments,  where  the  conversation  was  pro- 
longed for  several  hours.  A  number  of  the  queen's 
women  were  present  at  the  latter  part  of  the  con- 
ference ;  and  the  wife  of  Henry  de  Gusman,  who  was 
in  the  palace,  soon  gained  information  of  the  whole 
proceedings.  The  news  also  spread  to  other  quarters ; 
and  the  effect  was  visible  both  in  the  demeanour  of  the 
minister  and  his  son,  who  appeared  from  that  moment 
to  be  plunged  into  grief  and  despondency,  and  in  the 
conduct  of  the  other  nobles,  who  took  care  to  pour 
their  accusations  of  the  count-duke  into  the  now  open 
ear  of  the  king.  The  imperial  ambassador,  about  the 
same  time,  received  a  letter  from  the  emperor,  which 
he  was  directed  to  present  to  Philip;  and  which,  after 
stating  in  plain  terms  the  terrible  situation  of  the  house 
of  Austria,  suggested  distinctly  the  dismissal  of  the 
count-duke. 

A  number  of  other  circumstances  combined  to  drive 
the  monarch  to  try  other  counsels  than  those  which 
had  hitherto  guided  him  ;  and  in  order  that  he  might 
know  the  real  state  of  his  army  and  his  treasury,  he 
sent  notes  to  the  councils  of  war  and  of  finance,  de- 
manding precise  information  regarding  the  actual 
numbers  of  the  forces  in  Catalonia,  and  the  funds  for 
continuing  the  war.  The  reply  from  the  first  of  these 
was,  that  the  Catalonian  army  had  been  reduced  by 
various  losses  to  5000  men;  and  from  the  second,  that, 
of  6,000,000,  which  had  been  required,  only  1,000,000 
was  to  be  obtained.  This  news  disturbed  even  the 
statue-like  repose  of  the  king's  habitual  demeanour, 
and  the  fall  of  Olivarez  was  resolved. 

12* 


138  LIFE  OF 

On, the  15th  of  January,  1643,  Philip  with  his  own 
hand  wrote  to  his  minister,  forbidding  him   to  inter- 
fere farther  in  affairs  of  state,  and  commanding  him  to 
retire  to  his  country  house,  at  a  distance   of  a  few 
leagues  from  Madrid.     The  minister,  who  had  long 
perceived    that    his    favour  was   shaken,   was   not  so 
much  astonished  or  depressed  as  his  family,  and  bore 
his  reverse  with  fortitude  and  dignity.     His  wife,  who 
was  absent  at  the  time,  returned  in  haste  to  the  capital, 
and  throwing  herself  at  the  feet  of  the  king  and  of  the 
queen,    besought  their  clemency  and   forbearance   in 
the  most  abject  terms.     In  the  meantime  don  Louis 
de  Haro,  nephew  of  Olivarez,  who  had  no  slight  cause 
of  dislike  towards  his  uncle,  found  means  to  insinuate 
himself  into  the  good  graces  of  the  king;  but  he  em- 
ployed his  opportunity  to  no  evil  purpose,  beseeching 
the  monarch  on  the  contrary,  to  suffer  the  retreat  of 
the  disgraced  minister  to  take  place  with  as  few  signs 
of  displeasure  as  possible.      And  thus,  during  several 
days  after  the  minister  had  received  his  dismissal,  he 
remained  in  the  palace,  transacted  business  occasion- 
ally with  the  king  and  the  council,  while  in  secret  his 
preparations  were  made  for  quitting  the  court.     The 
monarch  also  granted   him  permission  to  destroy  all 
such  papers  relating  to  his  own  conduct  as  he  thought 
fit  ;  and  after  lingering  as  long  as  he  could,   in  hopes 
that  a  change  might  take  place  in  his  favour,   Olivarez 
made  up  his   mind  to  retire.     The   unrestrained  ani- 
mosity of  the  people,  however,   he  had  reason  to   be- 
lieve, might  inflict  insult,  if  not  injury,  upon  him  as 
he  passed  through  the  town  ;  and  he  accordingly  sent 
his  own   equipages   from   the   front  of  the   building, 
while  a  hired  carriage  conveyed  him  with  two  priests 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  139 

from  another  door.  His  apprehensions  were  not  un- 
founded, and  his  precaution  wise  ;  his  carriages  were 
attacked,  his  attendants  ill-treated,  and  it  was  only  by 
showing  the  mob  that  the  minister  himself  was  not 
present  that  they  were  suffered  to  proceed.  That  he 
had  quitted  the  palace,  however,  was  soon  known 
through  the  town,  and  a  public  rejoicing  took  place 
as  if  a  victory  had  been  gained.  The  bakers  gave 
away  their  bread,  the  fruiterers  distributed  their  fruit 
without  payment  ;  and  the  short-sighted  but  enthusi- 
astic populace  gave  way  to  as  much  joy  as  if  peace 
and  prosperity  could  not  fail  of  being  instantly  re- 
stored, thus  preparing  disappointment  for  themselves, 
and  the  bitter  task  of  undeceiving  them  for  the  minis- 
ter who  was  to  follow. 

No  such  rejoicings  took  place  in  the  court.  Fa- 
vourable changes  were  slow  in  making  their  appear- 
ance ;  Philip,  unaccustomed  to  business,  and  knowing 
his  own  incompetence,  became  both  wearied  and 
alarmed  under  the  weight  that  he  had  suddenly  taken 
upon  himself.  Olivarez  had  made  no  statesmen,  for 
his  suspicions  had  kept  men  of  talent  from  public  em- 
ployments, and  his  unwearied  application  had  supplied 
the  place  of  many  inferior  officers.  Don  Louis  de 
Haro,  though  possessed  of  considerable  abilities,  was 
as  yet  inexperienced;  and  the  time  very  speedily  came, 
when  Philip  began  to  regret  his  former  minister,  and 
to  think  of  recalling  him  to  power.  It  unfortunately 
happened,  however,  that  just  at  the  moment  when  pru- 
dence might  have  secured  his  return,  Olivarez,  un- 
wisely, published  a  vindication  of  his  own  conduct, 
which,  by  its  violent  language,  gave  so  much  offence 
to  the  queen,  and  every  other  influential  person  at  the 


140  .  LIFE  OF 

court,  that,  instead  of  once  more  calling  him  to  his 
councils,  Philip  sent  him  a  command  to  quit  the  vici- 
nity of  Madrid,  and  remain  at  Toro,  in  the  kingdom 
of  Leon.  Olivarez  obeyed;  but  disappointment  prey- 
ed upon  his  health,  and,  we  are  even  told,  injured  his 
mental  faculties.  His  strength  gradually  failed;  and 
after  lingering  for  some  time,  he  died  in  1645. 

The  count-duke  Olivarez  possessed  many  of  the 
qualities  of  a  great  statesman,  but,  at  the  same  time, 
many  of  the  faults  of  a  weak  man.  His  views  were 
vast,  and  in  general  not  inaccurate  in  their  principal 
features,  though  their  extent  often  prevented  that  cor- 
rect calculation  of  details  which,  previously  made, 
would  have  prevented  many  of  his  enterprises  from 
being  undertaken,  and  would  have  secured  success  to 
many  others.  He  had  great  powers  of  application, 
considerable  skill  in  discovering  the  schemes  of  others, 
and  much  diplomatic  ability.  His  negotiations  were 
almost  always  more  successful  than  his  arms;  but  in 
neither  did  fortune  favour  him,  or  success  attend  him 
as  with  Richelieu.  On  the  other  hand,  Olivarez  was 
suspicious,  inflexible,  and  despotic.  He  employed  but 
few  persons,  and  those  in  few  matters  of  importance; 
rather  choosing  to  bear  the  whole  labour  of  adminis- 
tration, than  to  share  his  authority,  communicate  his 
schemes,  or  endanger  his  favour. 

There  was  a  curious  difference  between  the  great 
judgment  with  which  Olivarez  saw  into  the  characters 
and  designs  of  those  opposed  to  him,  and  the  total 
want  of  discrimination  which  appeared  in  his  selection 
of  persons  for  his  own  service.  Thus  he  was  always 
individually  prepared  to  encounter  the  most  artful  po- 
litical wiles  of  his  adversaries;  but  he  had  no  person 


GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ.  141 

attached  to  him  who  was  worthy  of  being  intrusted 
with  any  negotiation  of  importance.  No  famous  ge- 
neral owed  his  rise  to  Olivarez;  no  statesman  of  any 
abilities  issued  from  his  school. 

The  defects  of  national  character  often  affected  the 
shrewdness  of  the  minister.  His  ideas  of  the  power 
and  grandeur  of  Spain,  and  his  contempt  for  her  oppo- 
nents, particularly  the  Portuguese,  made  him  lose  many 
valuable  opportunities,  and  neglect  many  a  wise  pre- 
caution. In  regard  to  the  latter,  indeed,  the  warnings 
that  he  received  and  treated  with  indifference  afford 
matter  for  the  most  serious  charge  that  can  be  made 
against  his  abilities  as  a  statesman.  His  inflexibility 
was  part  of  his  character  as  a  man  which  often  made 
him  appear  cruel,  but  which  sometimes  assumed  the 
appearance  and  supplied  the  place  of  a  virtue.  He 
maintained  great  pomp  and  state,  though  far  less  than 
the  duke  of  Lerma  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  his  inte- 
grity and  disinterestedness  were  very  great.  All  the 
large  revenues  which  his  various  offices  produced,  all 
his  own  income,  and  part  even  of  the  principal  of  his 
private  fortune,  he  spent  either  in  maintaining  his  own 
station  at  the  court,  or  in  aiding  the  state  in  moments  ,  x 
of  difficulty.  Bribery  was  unheard  of  during  his  ad-  V  Wy 
ministration;  and  when  he  quitted  office,  he  was  poorer 
than  when  he  first  took  the  reins  of  government.  The 
same  disinterested  spirit  pervaded  all  his  actions.  He 
sought  no  strong  places  as  a  retreat  in  case  of  danger; 
he  obtained  no  provinces  to  govern,  where  he  might 
have  opposed  or  controlled  the  will  of  his  sovereign, 
on  the  occurrence  of  disgrace.  He  coveted  power,  he 
was  avaricious,  and  jealous  of  authority;  he  kept  a 
weak  prince  in  ignorance  of  affairs  which  he  was  in- 


142  LIFE  OF  GASPAR  COUNT  OLIVAREZ. 

competent  to  direct  and  only  likely  to  derange;  but 
whatever  were  the  errors  and  faults  of  the  count-duke, 
his  sole  object  seems  to  have  been  the  good  of  his 
sovereign,  his  first  desire  to  aggrandize  his  master. 

In  person,  we  are  told,  Olivarez  was  plain,  and  some- 
what ill-proportioned ;  and  in  manners  grave,  except 
when,  for  the  purpose  of  concealing  misfortunes,  he 
affected  a  gaiety  which  he  did  not  feel.  His  integrity, 
his  talents,  and  his  devotion  to  his  monarch  deserved 
better  fortunes;  and  it  is  probable  that,  at  any  other 
period,  his  ministry  would  have  been  one  of  the  most 
successful  that  Spain  had  ever  seen.  One  who  knew 
him  as  a  youth  (Cespedes,)  describes  him  as  of  strong 
judgment,  grave,  studious,  showing  a  disposition  for 
arms,  active  and  prompt  in  affairs,  ready  and  resolute. 
One  thing  at  least  is  certain, — had  the  schemes  of  Oli- 
varez onlv  so  far  succeeded  as  related  to  the  internal 

■J 

policy  of  Spain,  a  great  part  of  the  evils,  the  preju- 
dices, the  fetters,  in  short,  of  all  kinds,  which  have 
chained  her  down,  and  kept  her  to  one  spot,  while  the 
rest  of  the  world  has  advanced,  would  have  been  dis- 
solved at  once. 


LIFE  OF 

JULIUS  CARDINAL  MAZARIN. 

BORN,  1602 DIED,  1661. 

Much  obscurity  hangs  over  the  early  life  of  Julius 
Mazarin,  and  the  place  of  his  birth  is  by  some  said  to 
have  been  Piscina  in  the  Abruzzi,  while  some  contend 
that  he  first  saw  light  in  Rome  itself.     All  agree,  how- 
ever, that  he  was  born  on  the  14th  of  July,  1602,  and 
that   his   early   education    was   conducted    at   Rome. 
Many  writers  assert  that  his  parents  were  in  very  poor 
circumstances,  and  exercising  handicraft  employments; 
while  others  represent  them  as  in  affluence,  allied  to 
the  noblest  families  in  Rome,  and  descended  from  one 
of   the  most  ancient  races  of  Sicily.     It  is  probable 
that  the  family  of  Mazarin  was  poor,  for  it  is  proved 
that  he  had  considerable  difficulty  in  forcing  his  way 
forward  ;  and  it  is  also  likely  that  his  relations  held  no 
very  distinguished  situation,  as  we  find  that  he  care- 
fully avoided  allusions  to  his  early  years  ;  but  it  seems 
equally  clear  that  they  were  noble  by  birth  and  re- 
spectable in  station,  as  at  his  outset  in  life  he  was  em- 
ployed in  situations  where  such  advantages  were  then 
considered  indispensable.     The  first  studies  of  Mazarin 
were  pursued  under  the  instruction  of  the  Jesuits  at 
Rome  ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  distinguished  himself 
highly  at  the  college  of  those  learned  men.     Having 
attracted  the  attention  of  Jerome  Colonna,  afterwards 
cardinal  Colonna,  he  accompanied  that  personage  at  an 
early  age  to  the  university  of  Alcala,  and  continued 


144  LIFE  OP 

his  studies  in  Spain-  for  a  short  time  with  great  dis- 
tinction. But,  either  in  consequence  of  some  disputes 
with  the  Spaniards,  or  of  his  own  eagerness  to  advance 
his  fortunes  in  a  more  extended  sphere,  he  quitted  that 
country  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  and  enter- 
ed the  ecclesiastical  arm}7  under  Torquato  Conti.  He 
afterwards  served  for  some  time  with  the  marquis  de 
Bagni  in  the  Valteline  as  captain  of  infantry,  and  shared 
in  the  disgraceful  flight  of  that  officer  before  the  French 
troops  under  Coeuvres.  As  a  soldier  he  never  obtained 
any  distinction;  and  his  military  life  is  only  remark- 
able, as  showing  the  same  extraordinary  difference  be- 
tween his  original  profession  and  his  subsequent  pur- 
suits which  is  to  be  found  in  the  case  of  Richelieu. 

As  a  negotiator,  however,  he  early  distinguished 
himself, — taking  advantage  of  men's  weaknesses  to  dis- 
cover the  secrets  of  their  hearts  by  the  most  opposite 
means.  Thus,  even  while  in  the  Valteline,  he  pur- 
posely provoked  the  duke  of  Feria  to  betray,  in  a  fit 
of  passion,  his  intention  of  opposing  the  papal  influ- 
ence at  the  court  of  Spain;  while  afterwards,  in  deal- 
ing with  the  mareehal  d'Estrees,  he  gained  the  same 
object  by  suppleness  and  insinuating  gentleness.  To 
the  family  of  Bagni,  Mazarin  now  attached  himself; 
and,  in  1628,  he  accompanied  the  cardinal  de  Bagni  to 
France,  whither  that  prelate  was  sent  as  nuncio,  to  re- 
place Spada,  whose  violence  and  freedom  of  speech 
had  given  constant  offence  to  the  imperious  minister 
of  Louis  XIII.*     To  that  monarch,  and  to  the  cardi- 

*  The  cardinal  de  Retz  declares  that  Bag-ni,  the  genera],  in- 
formed him  that  Mazarin,  while  with  the  army  in  the  Valteline, 
was  considered  as  nothing1  but  a  sharper,  and  yet  to  this  very 
family  of  Bagni  did  he  owe  his  first  support.  De  Retz,  however, 
is  not  to  be  relied  upon  when  speaking1  of  his  enemy  Mazarin. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  145 

nal  de  Richelieu,  Mazarin  was  now  formally  intro- 
duced; and  from  that  moment,  without  detaching  him- 
self at  once  from  the  papal  court,  he  did  all  that  he 
could  to  gain  the  favour  of  France,  and  attract  the  no- 
tice of  the  French  minister.  His  first  efforts  appeared 
in  the  disputes,  which  afterwards  produced  a  long- 
continued  war,  concerning  the  succession  to  the  duchy 
of  Mantua.  To  prevent  actual  hostilities,  the  pope 
despatched  the  cardinal  Sachetti  to  Turin,  to  negotiate 
with  the  duke  of  Savoy  in  regard  to  the  claims  of  the 
latter  upon  Montferrat.  Mazarin,  who  was  then  study- 
ing jurisprudence,  set  out  in  company  with  Sachetti, 
on  the  very  day  after  he  had  taken  his  degree  of  doc- 
tor of  laws. 

The  cardinal  did  not  long  remain  at  Turin ;  but, 
on  his  return  to  Rome,  Mazarin  was  left  behind  with 
the  title  of  internuncio,  and  all  his  endeavours  were 
directed  to  persuade  the  Spanish  and  imperial  courts 
to  abandon  their  attack  upon  the  duke  of  Mantua,  and 
conclude  a  peace  with  that  prince  upon  honourable 
terms.  But  these  endeavours  were  ineffectual,  and 
arms  were  destined  to  decide  the  fortune  of  the  house 
of  Nevers.  Richelieu,  however,  who  loved  subservi- 
ency, did  not  fail  to  remark,  and  in  the  end  to  recom- 
pense, the  leaning  of  Mazarin  to  the  part  of  France; 
and  in  the  course  of  a  mission  which  the  Italian  under- 
took, at  the  instigation  of  the  duke  of  Savoy,  for  the 
purpose  of  staying  the  march  of  the  French  army  into 
Piedmont,  the  cardinal  minister  had  a  long  interview 
with  the  young  Roman,  and  conceived  the  highest 
opinion  of  his  talents  for  diplomacy. 

If  Richelieu,  however,  esteemed  and  praised  Ma- 
zarin, there  is  little  doubt  that  the  Italian  suffered  him- 

VOL.  II.  13 


146  LIFE  OF 

self  to  be  gained  over  entirely  to  the  interests  of 
France;  and  that,  while  he  kept  up  the  appearance  of 
being  merely  the  servant  of  the  pope,  he  was  busily 
engaged  in  forwarding  the  views  of  Richelieu,  or  in 
obtaining  for  him  such  information  as  might  guide  his 
operations  to  a  successful  result.  During  the  war 
which  now  took  place  in  Savoy,  Mazarin  was  con- 
stantly employed;  ever  giving  himself  out  as  the  eager 
promoter  of  peace,  and  ever  favouring  the  cause  of 
France  against  Spain  and  the  empire.  He  was  now 
brought  several  times  into  contact  with  Richelieu  and 
the  king  of  France,  and  always  found  means  to  raise 
himself  in  their  favour.  At  length,  though  in  general 
hostilities  languished  on  both  sides,  and  Richelieu  suf- 
fered the  territories  of  Mantua  to  be  wrested  from  the 
duke,  the  war  was  carried  on  more  vigorously  in  the 
Montferrat.  Cassal  was  besieged  by  Spinola  and  de- 
fended by  Thoiras  with  equal  skill ;  but  in  the  end  the 
garrison  became  incapable  of  protracting  the  defence 
both  of  the  town  and  the  citadel,  on  account  of  the 
sickness  of  the  troops  and  the  scarcity  of  provisions. 

Mazarin,  being  informed  of  the  state  of  the  case, 
contrived  to  negotiate  a  suspension  of  arms  between 
the  two  generals;  and  Thoiras  gave  up  the  city  to  Spi- 
nola, but  merely  as  a  deposite  to  be  returned  in  case  a 
French  army  could  relieve  the  citadel  within  a  certain 
period.  In  the  meantime,  the  French  found  means  to 
introduce  a  certain  quantity  of  provisions  into  the  cita- 
del; and  Mazarin  himself,  while  conducting  the  nego- 
tiation, furnished  the  governor  with  several  sums  of 
money,  which  was  as  much  wanting  as  any  other  sup- 
ply. A  treaty,  however,  was  concluded  at  Ratisbon, 
during  the  continuance  of  this  truce,  by  which  it  was 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  147 

stipulated  that,  within  a  fixed  time,  the  whole  Mc-nt- 
ferrat  should  be  given  up,  by  the  Spaniards,  to  the 
duke  of  Mantua.     Previous  to  the  publication  of  the 
treaty  in  Italy,  a  French  force  had  been  collected  for 
the  relief  of  Cassal,  Spinola  had  fallen  ill  and  retired 
from  the  Spanish  camp,  and  the  army  and  generals  he 
had  left  behind  were  not  competent  to  offer  a  vigorous 
resistance.     Under   these    circumstances,   the  French 
generals  refused  to  acknowledge  the  treaty  of  Ratis- 
bon;  and,  declaring  that  its  provisions  would  force  the 
armies  to  keep  the  field  all  the  winter,  demanded  that 
Cassal  should  be  given  up  to  the  duke  of  Mantua  at 
once.     To  this  Mazarin  obtained  the  consent  of  the 
Spanish  general;  but  the  facility  with  which  one  ex- 
action was  permitted  induced  the  French  to  require 
more;  and  Mazarin  was  sent  back  in  order  to  procure 
the  instant  evacuation  of  all  the  principal  towns  held 
by  the  Spaniards  in  the  Monlferrat.     A  decided  refu- 
sal, however,  was  now  given;  and  marshal  Schomberg, 
with  his  fellow  commanders,  advanced  to  attack  the 
Spanish    lines. *      Mazarin,    in    the    meanwhile,    was 
urging  the  Spaniards,  with  all  the  plausible  eloquence 
of  which  he  was  master,  to  consent  to  the  terms  pro- 
posed, and  he  at  length  succeeded.     But  by  this  time 
the  French  were  within   half  a  mile  of  the  Spanish 
lines,  Picolomini  had  thrown  forward  a  body  of  mus- 
keteers to  annoy  Schomberg  in  his  advance,  and  the 
cannon  had  already  opened  their  fire  from  the  Spanish 
position.     Mazarin,  borrowing  a  swift  horse,  however, 
galloped  as  fast  as  he  could  towards  the  advancing 
army,  waving  his  hat,  and  exclaiming,  "Halt!  halt!,; 

*  October  26, 1630. 


148  LIFE  OF 

and,  though  he  ran  considerable  risk  from  the  fire  of 
both  parties,  he  reached  marshal  Schomberg  in  safety. 
The  French  army  was  now  halted;  and  the  generals  of 
both  nations  having  met,  the  terms  were  agreed  upon, 
and  were  ultimately  executed  on  the  part  of  the  Spa- 
niards with  good  faith,  on  the  part  of  the  French  with 
treacherous  delay. 

The  partiality  of  Mazarin  to  the  interests  of  France 
was  well  known  to  that  power,  but  was  as  yet  concealed 
from  her  enemies;  and  Richelieu,  consequently,  lost  no 
opportunity  of  negotiating  with  the  princes  of  Italy 
through  the  mediation  of  the  Roman  diplomatist.  The 
next  transaction  of  any  import  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
regarded  the  cession  of  Pignerol  to  France*  by  the  duke 
of  Savoy;  and,  in  respect  to  this  business,  he  conducted 
the  negotiations  so  skilfully  as  to  persuade  the  duke  not 
only  to  yield  one  of  his  most  important  fortresses  with 
scarcely  an  effort  to  retain  it,  but,  after  having  placed 
himself  at  the  mercy  of  France,  to  deceive,  with  the 
utmost  duplicity,  the  Spaniards  from  whom  he  had 
hitherto  derived  support.  To  such  services  Richelieu 
was  never  insensible,  and  he  now  bent  all  his  efforts 
to  induce  the  pope  to  name  Mazarin  nuncio  at  the 
court  of  France.  He  met  with  more  difficulties, 
however,  than  he  expected:  or,  at  least,  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  sovereign  pontiff  were  slower  than  he  de- 
sired. 

Though  employed  at  the  period  solely  as  a  papal 

*  The  Biographie  Universelle  attributes  the  whole  scheme  of 
concealing  a  part  of  the  garrison  in  Pignerol  to  Mazarin.  The 
events  connected  therewith  have  been  already  related  in  the  Life 
of  Richelieu;  but  I  find  no  proof  that  Mazarin  had  any  direct 
part  in  the  plot  or  its  execution. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  149 

minister,  Mazarin  had  not  yet  decided  upon  entering 
into  the  ecclesiastical  state;  but,  shortly  after  the  affair 
of  Pignerol,  the  hopes  of  support  at  the  pontifical 
court,  held  out  to  him  by  France  and   the  favour  of 
the  pope  himself,  induced  him  to  resign   the  sword, 
and  put  on  the  surplice.     One  of  the  rich  canonicates 
of  the  Lateran  was  his  first  reward;  and,  not  long  after- 
wards, he  was  appointed  vice-legate  to  Avignon.    The 
post  of  nuncio  in  France,  however,  was  that  which  he 
most  earnestly  desired;  and  to  obtain  it  he  employed 
all  the   resources   of  his    keen   and   intriguing  mind. 
Richelieu    seconded    his    efforts   powerfully;    but  the 
Spaniards,  who  had  by  this  time  learned  to  suspect  the 
Roman  minister,  opposed  his  views.    Favoured  by  the 
pontiff  himself,  Mazarin  soon  saw  success  approaching; 
but  the  Spanish  ambassador,  who   at  length  perceived 
that  further  opposition  was  useless,  as  it  was  already 
determined  that  the  aspiring  Italian  should  be  sent  as 
nuncio  extraordinary   to   Paris,    endeavoured,   in  the 
next  place,  to  insure  that  the  object  intrusted  to  Maza- 
rin's  negotiation  should  be  of  such   a  nature  as  either 
to  embroil  him  with  Richelieu  if  he  pressed  it  severely, 
or  disgrace  him  with  the  pope  if  he   neglected  to  en- 
force it.     The  subject  fixed  upon  was  the  quarrel  be- 
tween  France   and   Lorraine,   but   Mazarin  was  too 
shrewd  to  engage  himself  in  difficulties;  and  though 
he  affected  to  use  every  means  to  induce  Richelieu  to 
restore  the  duke  to  his  territories,  yet  his  applications 
were  fruitless,  and  they  certainly  were  not  sincere. 

While  he  remained  at  Paris,  the  first  decided  rupture 
took  place  between  France  and  Spain,  on  account  of  the 
attack  made  by  the  latter  power  upon  the  archbishopric 
of  Treves;  and,  under  these  circumstances,  Mary  of 

13* 


150  LIFE  OF 

Medicis,  the  exiled  mother  of  the  French  king,  with- 
out influence,  without  power,  without  even  a  party  in 
France,  took  upon  herself  the  mighty  task  of  reconcil- 
ing the  two  crowns.  The  personage  on  whom  she 
fixed  as  a  mediator  was  no  other  than  Mazarin;  and  to 
him  she  wrote,  recommending  the  promotion  of  a 
general  pacification.  She  also  addressed  an  epistle  to 
the  king  her  son,  once  more  endeavouring  to  touch  his 
heart  on  her  own  account,  and  entrusted  the  letter  to 
the  care  of  Mazarin.  But  the  king  paid  no  attention 
to  her  entreaties,  and  Mazarin  played  into  the  hand  of 
her  most  bitter  adversary.  The  very  reply  that  he 
thought  fit  to  send  was  dated  from  the  cardinal's  house 
at  Ruel;  and  all  his  actions  showed  that  Mazarin  had 
given  himself  up  to  the  sole  guidance  of  Richelieu. 
During  a  severe  fit  of  illness  which  he  now  suffered, 
the  cardinal  minister  showed  him  more  real  and  tender 
kindness  than,  perhaps,  he  ever  displayed  to  any  other 
human  being;  and  Mazarin  resumed  his  official  duties 
with  the  certainty  that  no  efforts  would  be  spared  by 
France  to  raise  him  to  a  seat  in  the  conclave. 

In  the  meanwhile  his  late  conduct  had  fully  con- 
firmed the  suspicions  of  the  Spanish  court;  and,  by 
representations  and  remonstrances,  it  forced  the  pontiff 
to  recall  Mazarin  to  his  station  as  vice-legate  at  Avignon, 
He  was  suffered  not  long  after  to  return  to  Rome;  but 
there  new  difficulties  arose,  and  obstructed  his  advance, 
springing  from  the  very  steps  which  he  had  taken  to 
facilitate  his  progress.  In  order  to  gratify  the  cardinal- 
nephew,  Antonio  Barberini,  Mazarin  had  obtained  from 
Richelieu  that  the  French  ambassador,  Noailles,  should 
be  recalled,  and  that  the  marechal  d'Estrees  should  be 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  151 

sent  to  Rome  in  his  place.  But  the  bluff  and  hasty 
manners  of  the  latter  displeased  the  pontiff  as  much  as 
Noailles  had  displeased  his  nephew,  and  every  means 
was  used  to  cause  the  removal  of  D'Estrees. 

Richelieu,  however,  remained  firm ;  and  also,  in  re- 
gard to  the  invasion  of  Parma,  showed  a  degree  of 
resolution  which  surprised  the  Roman  court.  Mazarin 
it  was  who  suffered  from  the  French  minister's  deter- 
mined conduct;  and  the  cardinal's  hat,  which  Riche- 
lieu eagerly  demanded  for  him,  was  withheld,  without 
any  plausible  excuse.  New  quarrels  ensued  between 
D'Estrees  and  the  Roman  court ;  and  one  of  his  at- 
tendants was  murdered,  upon  which  Scotti  was  sent 
as  nuncio  to  Paris.  Richelieu,  however,  refused  to 
receive  him  in  that  quality,  or  to  treat  farther  with 
Rome  till  his  creature  was  raised  to  the  conclave, 
and  other  personal  demands  granted.  The  pope  con- 
tinued obstinate,  and  Scotti  endeavoured  to  intimidate 
Richelieu;  but  an  assembly  of  the  clergy  of  France, 
called  by  the  minister,  spoke  so  boldly  of  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  Roman  see,  and  pointed  so  distinctly  to 
the  means  of  checking  its  exactions,  that  the  pontiff 
began  to  fear  the  consequences,  and  moderated  his  tone 
towards  the  marechal  d'Estrees. 

Richelieu,  on  his  side,  abandoned  part  of  his  de- 
mands, but  still  required  the  hat  for  Mazarin;  and 
some  new  events  occurred  in  the  course  of  1640,  which 
increased  his  obligations  towards  the  Roman  statesman, 
and  caused  him  to  press  his  request  more  eagerly.  The 
siege  of  Turin  having  taken  place,*  count  Harcourt 
hastened  to  its  relief;  but  Richelieu,  who  not  only 
desired  to  deliver  the  city,  but  to  gain  the  princes  of 

*  See  the  Life  of  Richelieu. 


152  LIFE  OF 

Savoy  to  his  own  party,  sent  for  Mazarin,  and  directed 
him,  as  ambassador  from  the  king  of  France,  to  endea- 
vour to  conclude  a  truce  by  which  not  only  the  Pied- 
montese  capital  might  be  relieved,  but  prince  Thomas, 
as  well  as  his  brother,  be  brought  over  to  the  French 
interests.  The  first  of  these  objects  had  been  accom- 
plished, by  the  gallantry  and  skill  of  count  Harcourt, 
before  Mazarin  arrived:  but  the  latter  part  of  the  ne- 
gotiation he  carried  through  with  consummate  policy ; 
and  both  planned  and  executed'the  arrest  of  the  duchess 
of  Savoy's  mostfaithful  counsellor,  count  Philip  d'Aglie, 
who  had  always  opposed  the  ambitious  and  exacting 
views  of  France. 

The  act  was  base,  treacherous,  and  a  direct  violation 
of  the  rights  of  nations;  but  it  was  serviceable  and 
gratifying  to  Richelieu  ;  and,  in  the  course  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  the  name  of  Mazarin  appeared  in  the 
papal  list  of  promotions  to  the  conclave.  He  had  re- 
mained in  France  during  the  interval,  following  the 
court  and  occupying  various  posts  of  minor  importance. 
On  the  march  to  Perpignan,  he  accompanied  the  mi- 
nister; and  at  Valence  was  met  by  the  nuncio  bearing 
the  hat  from  the  sovereign  pontiff.*  It  was  bestowed 
on  him,  with  the  usual  ceremonies,  by  the  hands  of  the 
king  himself;  and  an  Italian  regiment,  which  served 
with  credit  in  the  expedition  to  Roussillon,  was  dis- 
tinguished by  his  name.  During  that  very  expedition, 
however,  Mazarin  saw  all  the  hopes  which  he  had  con- 
ceived from  the  favour  of  Richelieu,  tremble  on  the 
eve  of  falling:  with  the  fortunes  of  the  minister  himself. 
The  conspiracy  of  Cinq  Mars,  the  last  and  most  dan- 
gerous of  all  those  that  threatened  the  cardinal  de 
Richelieu,  now  reached  the  point  at  which  it  was  to 

*  February,  1642. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  153 

be  executed  or  discovered.     The  minister  underwent 
the  first  severe  attack  of  an   illness  which  was  after- 
wards to  prove  mortal,  and  both  his  friends  and  his 
enemies  believed  him    to  be  dying;   but  that   which, 
used  skilfully  against  him,  might  have  proved  his  de- 
struction, in  the  unskilful  hands  of  his  opponents  saved 
him  from  ruin.      Cinq  Mars  and  his  associates,  sup- 
posing that  his  days  were  numbered,  paused  in  their 
course  to  let  fate  spare  them  the  pain   and   danger  of 
the  deed.     Time  was  given  for  Richelieu  to  receive 
the  evidence  of  their  treason;  and  he  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  complete  and  to  witness  their  fall.     One  of 
the  most,  and  one  of  the  least,  culpable  of  the  conspi- 
rators, forfeited  life  upon  the  scaffold.     The  blood  of 
the  king's  brother  was  spared,  while  his  honour  was 
sacrificed  ;   and  the  duke  of  Bouillon's   pardon  was 
purchased   by  the   resignation  of  his  principality  of 
Sedan.     As  Richelieu,  from  an  abscess  in  the  arm, 
could  not  sign  the  compact  which  secured  immunity 
to  the  duke  and  Sedan  to  France,  he  deputed  Mazarin 
to  draw  up  the  paper,  and  afterwards  sent  him  to  re- 
ceive the  surrender  of  the  principality.     In  the  tyran- 
nical exactions  which  Richelieu,  during  the  few  re- 
maining months  of  his  life,  practised   upon  the  king, 
in  order  probably  to  punish  his  participation  in  the 
conspiracy  of  Cinq  Mars,  Mazarin  wisely  refrained 
from  appearing;  but  when  the  monarch's   anger  burst 
forth    against    Chavigny,    whose    bold    mind    would 
scarcely  bend  to  the  ceremonial  respect  due  to  the 
station  of  a  sovereign   whom  he   saw   his   principal 
trample   on    daily   with    impunity,  Mazarin   stepped 
forward  to  plead  the  cause  of  the  secretary ;  and,  by 


154  „  LIFE  OP 

rendering  himself  the  protector  of  his  rival,  rendered 
himself  his  superior. 

At  length  the  death  of  Richelieu  left  vacant  the 
office  of  prime  minister,  and  Mazarin  immediately 
began  to  exercise  the  functions,  if  not  to  bear  the  title, 
of  that  officer.  Chavigny  was  personally  disliked  by 
the  king;  de  Noyers  was  not  agreeable  to  him;  and 
though  he  had  promised  Richelieu  to  continue  in  place 
the  ministry  which  that  extraordinary  man  had  formed, 
he  did  not  feel  himself  at  all  bound  to  advance  either 
of  the  two  secretaries  to  the  vacant  post.  Some  pas- 
sages in  the  letters  of  Mazarin  seem  to  imply,  that  to 
the  recommendation  of  Richelieu  himself  he  owed  the 
distinction,  which  he  immediately  enjoyed  upon  the 
great  statesman's  decease  ;  but  it  is  more  probable  that 
the  real  foundation  of  his  favour  was  his  own  supple 
and  courtierlike  demeanour,  his  political  sagacity,  and 
persevering  cunning. 

The  inclination  of  the  king  towards  Mazarin  did 
not  in  the  least  diminish  after  the  death  of  Richelieu; 
and,  as  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  its  continuance, 
the  monarch  appointed  him  godfather  to  his  eldest  son? 
afterwards  famous  as  Louis  XIV.  The  illness  and 
approaching  death  of  Louis  XIII.,  however,  gave  him 
some  cause  for  apprehension ;  and  he  took  care  to 
guard  as  far  as  possible  against  contingencies,  first  by 
inducing  the  king  to  place  his  name  second  in  the 
council  of  regency,  which  the  monarch  appointed  pre- 
vious to  his  death;  and,  secondly,  by  obtaining  from 
him  an  order,  according  to  the  tenor  of  which  the 
regent  was  to  dispose  of  all  ecclesiastical  offices  and 
dignities  by  the  advice  of  Mazarin  alone.  All  these 
precautions,  however,  were  vain. 


CARDINAL  MAZAEIN.  155 

Mazarin  did  not,  indeed,  stand  ill  with  the  queen, 
but  Potier,  bishop  of  Beauvais  occupied  a  much  higher 
station  in  her  favour  ;  and  scarcely  was  the  king  dead 
when  Anne  of  Austria  proceeded  to  the  parliament  and 
annulled  the  will  of  her  husband,  which  she  had  pro- 
mised most  solemnly  to  observe.  She  was  now  left 
by  the  decree  of  the  parliament  to  name  her  own  council 
of  regency,  and  to  follow  its  advice  or  not,  as  she 
thought  fit;  and  she  immediately  raised  the  bishop  of 
Beauvais  to  the  high  office  of  prime  minister.  If  few 
women  were  less  qualified  than  Anne  of  Austria  to 
govern  a  turbulent  and  dissatisfied  people  like  the 
French,  no  man  was  ever  more  unfit  to  exercise  the 
functions  of  minister  in  moments  of  difficultly  than  the 
prelate  whom  she  now  selected.  The  wittv  and  fac- 
tious cardinal  de  Retz,  addressing  a  third  person,  calls 
him  "  more  idiot  than  all  the  idiots  of  your  acquaint- 
ance;" and  declares  that  his  first  act  was  to  propose  to 
the  people  of  Holland  to  abandon  their  religfcm  and 
become  papists.  At  all  events,  it  is  sufficiently  evident 
that  he  was  unequal  to  the  station  which  he  occupied; 
and  the  queen  herself  soon  began  to  feel  that  the  dig- 
nity of  the  regent  suffered  from  the  folly  of  her 
minister. 

It  was  very  difficult,  however,  at  that  moment  to 
supply  his  place,  inasmuch  as  three  parties  existed  at 
the  court,  each  of  them  powerful,  and  two  of  them 
dangerous.  The  first  consisted  of  the  friends,  sup- 
porters, and  confidential  advisers  of  the  late  cardinal 
de  Richelieu:  the  second,  of  the  persons  whom,  he  had 
banished  or  cast  into  prison,  and  who,  now  recalled 
to  Paris,  made  their  appearance  once  more  on  the 
political  stage,  with  ideas  far  behind  the  point  to  which 


156  LIFE  OP 

the  genius  of  Richelieu  had  hurried  forward  the  age ; 
the  third  contained  a  mixed  party,  gathered,  like  the 
last,  from  Richelieu's  enemies,  but  comprising  all  those 
whom  the  powers  of  his  mind  or  the  fears  of  his 
vengeance  had  restrained  from  actual  attempts  to  over- 
throw his  government.  To  this  last  body  were  added  all 
the  factious  and  turbulent  of  Paris;  all  those  who, 
amidst  the  population  of  a  great  capital,  find  their  real 
or  putative  talents  overlooked ;  all  those  who  are  dis- 
satisfied with  the  slow  and  regular  paths  to  dignity  and 
emolument ;  all  those  who  are  discontented  with  every- 
thing they  do  not  understand;  all  those  who  are  so  in- 
famous, so  unprincipled,  or  so  stupid  as  to  have  no 
hopes  nor  prospects,  except  in  the  destruction  of  that 
civil  order,  which  guards  the  peaceable  from  the  fangs 
of  the  unruly. 

However,  as  the  incapacity  of  the  bishop  of  Beauvais 
became  daily  more  apparent,  and  even  he  himself, 
though*  jealous  of  all  who  were  likely  to  succeed  him 
in  office,  felt  his  weak  mind  staggering  under  the 
burden  of  the  state,  it  was  determined  to  call  Mazarin 
more  immediately  to  the  councils  of  the  queen.  The 
cardinal  had  kept  himself  prepared  to  return  to  Italy  on 
the  least  appearance  of  danger;  his  horses  and  carriages 
were  even  held  ready  ;  and  he  himself  made  perpaps 
too  great  a  parade  of  his  desire  of  retiring  from  the 
French  court,  to  convince  any  one  of  his  sincerity. 
At  length,  however,  the  bishop  of  Beauvais,  on  pre- 
tence of  visiting  his  diocess,  quitted  Paris,  and  Mazarin 
received  notice  that  the  queen  required  his  assistance. 

Hitherto  all  had  been  tranquil,  though  all  had  been 
weak.  The  queen  had  given  everything  to  those  who 
asked  her,   till  monsieur  de  la  Feuillade  declared  that 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  157 

the  French  language  had  reduced  itself  to  five  little 
words,  "The  queen  is  so  good/"  The  regent  her- 
self had  exhibited  plentiful  foibles;  and  her  favourite 
for  the  time,  the  duke  of  Beaufort,  who  assumed  the 
airs,  without  possessing  the  privileges,  of  a  lover,  ruled 
all  things,  and  distributed  all  gifts.  The  queen  had 
sense  enough  to  perceive  that  such  a  state  could  not 
exist  much  longer;  and  her  choice  of  Mazarin  was 
perhaps  as  wise  as  any  other  she  could  have  formed. 
Chavigny  was  firmer,  more  enlightened,  and  more 
vigorous,  resembling  Richelieu  in  more  points  than 
did  Mazarin.  But  the  day  of  Richelieu  had  gone  by: 
he  himself  had  exhausted  his  own  influence,  had . 
worked  out  the  mine  he  had  discovered,  and  had 
brought  about  a  state  to  which  the  very  government 
that  had  produced  it  was  no  longer  applicable.  It  is 
possible  that  the  great  mind  of  Richelieu,  his  gigantic 
power,  and  the  terrors  of  his  name,  might  have  enabled 
him,  if  he  had  lived,  to  have  carried  on  his  system 
longer  than  he  did;  but  no  other  man  could  do  it  after 
he  was  gone;  and  Mazarin,  convinced  that  such  was 
the  case,  determined  to  modify  the  policy  of  the  mi- 
nister he  followed,  in  a  manner  to  which  it  is  probable 
the  character  of  Chavigny  would  not  have  submitted. 

At  his  very  first  outset,  however,  he  was  destined 
to  encounter  that  factious  opposition  which  pursued 
him  through  a  great  part  of  his  ministry.  The  duke 
of  Beaufort  had  been  one  of  the  persons  who  had 
suffered  from  either  the  policy  or  the  enmity  of  Riche- 
lieu ;  and  the  sight  of  a  creature  of  that  minister  raised 
to  the  most  important  office  in  the  state  was  insuffera- 
ble to  the  son  of  Vendome.  He  opposed,  he  pro- 
tested, he  caballed,  and,  with  five  or  six  other  noble- 

VOL.   II.  14 


158  LIFE  OF 

men  of  inferior  rank,  gave  himself  and  his  plans  such 
airs  of  consequence,  that  they  acquired  the  name  of 
the  Importants,  and  afforded  Mazarin  a  pretext  for 
arresting  the  duke,*  and  driving  the  rest  from  Paris. 
Many  persons  have  contended  that  the  duke  had  se- 
riously planned  the  imprisonment  or  meditated  the 
death  of  the  minister;  and  Mazarin  during  a  whole 
day  either  felt  great  alarm,  or  affected  the  appearance 
thereof  with  much  address.  In  arresting  the  duke  of 
Beaufort,  however,  Mazarin  did  not  alone  accomplish  an 
act  necessary  to  his  own  security,  but  he  also  satisfied 
the  enmity  of  the  prince  of  Conde,  who  had  personal 
•  ,  causes  of  dislike  towards  the  rash,  weak  duke  ;  and 
he  gratified  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  for  a  time 
bound  in  the  strictest  ties  of  friendship  to  the  prince. 

This  step  being  securely  planted,  another  followed 
in  the  same  course  ;  the  bishop  of  Beauvais  was  or- 
dered to  remain  in  his  diocess,  and  a  number  of  other 
prelates,  who  had  offended  both  Mazarin  and  Conde, 
were  directed  to  retire  from  Paris.  About  the  same 
time,  also,  the  cardinal  induced  the  queen  to  remove 
from  the  Louvre  to  the  palace  of  the  iate  minister 
Richelieu,  which  was  thenceforward  called  the  Palais 
Royal,  and  obtained  for  himself  therein  a  suite  of 
rooms  which  possessed  an  outlet  to  the  rue  des  Boris 
Enfans,  as  well  as  by  the  great  gates  to  the  rue  St. 
Honore. 

Mazarin  was  now  all  powerful  in  the  mind  of  the 
queen  ;  and,  notwithstanding  every  effort  of  faction, 
he  remained  in  authority  till  the  end  of  his  life,  ruling 
France  either  from  Paris,  the  provinces,  or  a  foreign 

*  September,  1643. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  159 

country,  with  difficulty,  it  is  true,  but  not  without 
success.  The  arrest  of  the  duke  of  Beaufort,  who,  a 
few  months  before,  had  appeared  omnipotent  at  the 
court,  gave  immense  advantages  to  the  minister  ;  and 
this  one  act  of  vigour,  together  with  the  impetus 
which  Richelieu  had  given  to  the  government  up  to 
the  last  hour  of  his  life,  carried  the  cardinal  calmly 
through  the  first  four  years  of  the  regency.  He  him- 
self affected  extreme  moderation  and  great  humility; 
and  while  with  keen  penetration  he  watched  all  the 
manoeuvres  of  the  courtiers,  and  took  «are  to  frustrate, 
without  encountering,  every  attempt  to  injure  him, 
he  attached  multitudes  to  his  interests  by  his  mild- 
ness, his  liberality,  and  his  placability.  These  quali- 
ties, however,  without  some  sterner  virtues,  are  those 
which  too  often  make  a  minister  despised  ;  but  al- 
though Mazarin's  character  wanted  the  boldness,  and 
perhaps  the  firmness,  which  are  necessary  to  afford 
for  love  the  steadfast  foundation  of  respect,  yet  the 
success  of  his  measures,  and  the  constant  triumph  of 
the  French  armies  under  his  ministry,  shielded  him 
during  those  four  years  from  that  light  and  laughing 
scorn  with  which  the  inhabitants  of  Paris  are  too  apt 
to  treat  all  those  who  do  not  trample  on  their  necks. 
To  carry  on  the  war  with  vigour,  Mazarin  had  to 
overcome  some  opposition  in  the  council,  many  mem- 
bers of  which,  favoured  it  is  supposed  by  the  queen 
herself,  were  desirous  of  concluding  a  peace  with  the 
family  from  which  she  sprung.  The  cardinal,  how- 
ever, prevailed  ;  and  renewing  the  treaty  which  had 
lately  expired  with  Holland,  he  gave  the  command 
of  the  army,  destined  to  act  in  concert  with  the  Dutch 
fleet,  to  the  inconstant  duke  of  Orleans,  who  made 


160  LIFE  OP 

himself  master  of  Gravelines,  after  a  tedious  siege. 
About  the  same  time,  however,  general  Rantzau  was 
defeated  with  very  severe  loss,  and  Freiburg  taken  ; 
but  the  exploits  of  Conde  and  Turenne  soon  made 
ample  compensation  ;  and  the  French  victory  at  Frei- 
burg, with  the  capture  of  Philipsburg,  Spires,  Worms, 
and  Mayence,  effaced  all  memory  of  the  foregoing 
disasters. 

The  employment  of  the  most  influential  persons  in 
the  state  at  a  distance  from  the  capital  greatly  tended 
to  confirm  the  power  of  Mazarin  ;  but  the  parliament 
of  Paris,  so  often  trampled  on  by  Richelieu,  began  to 
raise  its  head  against  the  more  feeble  rule  of  his  suc- 
cessor. Mazarin,  at  first,  far  from  showing  any  dis- 
position to  oppose  that  body,  did  all  that  circum- 
stances permitted  to4Court  its  favour,  causing  the  queen 
to  declare,  upon  ?\\  occasions,  that  she  wished  to  rule 
by  its  advice  alone.  An  opportunity  soon  presented 
itself,  however,  for  the  parliament  to  show  some  slight 
contempt  for  the  royal  authority  :  the  court  took  one 
vigorous  measure,  which  was  speedily  disavowed,  and 
the  parliament  pursued  its  course  but  the  more  boldly. 
Mutual  concessions  quelled  the  dispute :  but  the  body 
of  the  law  never  forgot  the  triumph  it  had  gained,  and 
from  that  moment  it  proceeded  more  eagerly  in  its 
exactions.  The  disposition  of  the  parliament  to  op- 
pose the  court  now  became  so  apparent,  that  in  many 
cases,  where  small  and  indirect  taxes  were  levied  in 
order  to  carry  on  the  growing  expenses  of  the  war, 
the  individuals  on  whom  the  burden  fell  appealed  to 
the  parliament,  and  thus  both  embarrassed  the  minister 
and  decreased  the  revenue.  Many  of  these  taxes 
were  of  old  establishment,  and  had  been  frequently 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  161 

confirmed ;  but  still  the  parliament,  feeling  its  im- 
portance increased  both  with  the  court  and  the  people, 
by  the  difficulties  it  could  throw  in  the  way  of  the 
minister,  persisted  in  entertaining  the  appeals  of  all 
kinds  that  were  made  to  it,  and  deliberated  with 
solemn  pomp  on  trifles  naturally  removed  from  its  cog- 
nisance. In  fact,  without  precisely  perceiving  what 
was  wanting  to  insure  the  freedom  of  the  subject,  and 
to  afford  that  best  security  for  the  stability  of  the 
throne,  the  parliaments  of  Paris  were  struggling — and 
had  been  struggling  during  many  ages — for  the  pri- 
vileges of  a  legislative  assembly,  though  their  efforts 
were  generally  rendered  pitiful,  from  not  having  a 
distinct  and  comprehensive  purpose,  and  of  course  be- 
came ineffectual,  because  their  own  rights  to  legislate 
— they  not  being  the  representatives  of  the  people — 
had  no  better  foundation  than  those  of  the  king  whom 
they  opposed. 

Not.  long  after  his  accession  to  power  under  the  re- 
gency, Mazarin  had  to  conduct  three  difficult  nego- 
tiations, in  two  of  which  he  was  very  successful ;  and, 
indeed,  his  mind  was  much  better  adapted  to  the  calm 
though  intricate  paths  of  diplomatic  intrigue,  than  to 
the  rough  and  dangerous  ways  through  which  he  was 
forced  to  advance  in  his  internal  government  of  the 
country.  His  first  attempt,  however,  was  unsuccess- 
ful. The  death  of  Urban  VIII.  having  left  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter  vacant  in  the  middle  of  the  year  1644, 
Mazarin  strained  every  nerve  to  cause  the  election  of 
a  new  pope  favourable  to  the  interests  of  France.  But 
the  reign  of  Urban  had  been  long ;  and  neither  Ma- 
zarin himself,  nor  the  Barberinis,  who  were  intrusted 
with  the  interests  of  France,  wTere  experienced  in  the 

14* 


162  LIFE  OF 

intrigues  of  the  conclave.     In  spite  of  all  Mazarin's 
efforts,  by  the  bad  management  of  the  cardinal  An- 
tonio Barberini,  Innocent  X.,  who  had  formerly  been 
nuncio  in  Spain,   was  elected,   and   the  French  can- 
didate was  excluded.      Some  accused  the  Barberinis 
of  having  betrayed  the   interests  of  France:  but  the 
persecution   which  they  underwent  during  the  first 
years  of  Innocent's  government  exculpated  them  in 
the  eyes  of  Mazarin  ;    and   during  their  exile  from 
the  court  of  Rome  they  were  received  in  France  with 
a  degree  of  tenderness  which  did  honour  to  the  heart 
of  the  minister.     Previous  to  the  death  of  the  former 
pope,  however,  Mazarin  had  accomplished  the  pacifi- 
cation of  central  Italy,  by  negotiating  a  treaty  between 
Urban  and  the  duke  of  Parma  ;  and  in  the  following 
year,  by  restoring  peace  between   the  Danes  and  the 
Swedes,  he  left  the  armies  of  the  latter  free  to  act 
once  more  against  the  house  of  Austria.     To  the  great 
object  of  diminishing  the  power  of  that  family  Maza- 
rin devoted  his  chief  attention  ;  and  though  incapable 
of  conceiving  or  executing  the  mighty  schemes  which 
had  been  formed  by  his  predecessor,  he  pursued  this 
part  of  Richelieu's  designs  with  skill,   perseverance, 
and  courage. 

In  the  mean  time  the  parliament  did  not  fail  to  con- 
tinue the  investigation  of  all  complaints  in  regard  to 
taxes  affecting  the  citizens  of  Paris  ;  and  several  of  the 
leading  members  were  accused  of  exciting  the  people 
to  make  the  appeals  which  were  afterwards  to  be 
judged  by  themselves.  Mazarin  now  perceived  that 
the  government  could  not  be  carried  on  without  some 
vigorous  measure  to  check  the  constant  interference  of 
the   parliament  ;   accordingly  he   issued   an  order  of 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  163 

council  banishing  the  four  most  factious  members  of 
that <  body  from  Paris,  and  putting  one  of  them,  the 
president  Barillon,  under  strict  arrest.  The  parlia- 
ment remonstrated,  and  despatched  a  deputation  to 
petition  the  queen  to  restore  the  officers  suspended  to 
the  exercise  of  their  functions.  The  queen,  however, 
and  her  council  remained  firm  ;  and  as  a  means  of 
forcing  her  to  yield,  the  various  courts  of  which  the 
parliament  was  composed  assembled  almost  daily,  to 
consider  new  remonstrances,  thereby  totally  interrupt- 
ing the  dispensation  of  justice  to  which  the)'  were 
bound  by  their  offices.  On  this  the  court  yielded  to  a 
certain  point,  and  suffered  the  three  exiled  members  to 
return  ;  but  in  regard  to  the  president  Barillon  no  le- 
nity was  shown  ;  and  various  efforts  to  obtain  his  re- 
lease having  proved  ineffectual,  he  was  conducted  a 
prisoner  to  Pignerol. 

All  seemed  quiet  now  for  a  certain  time;  but  the 
state  was  still  at  a  very  great  expense;  immense  ar- 
mies continually  in  the  field,  drained  the  exchequer; 
and  the  infamous  peculation  exercised  in  the  collection 
of  the  revenue  left  the  country  always  in  a  state  of 
exigence.  The  impetus  given  to  the  affairs  of  the  go- 
vernment by  the  energy  of  Richelieu  gradually  ceased. 
In  vain  Turenne  and  Conde  carried  on  the  war  with 
the  most  triumphant  success ;  in  vain  the  Swedes  re- 
covered their  superiority  over  the  armies  of  Austria; 
in  vain  more  than  sixteen  fortified  cities  were  captured 
in  less  than  a  year  by  the  French  generals  ;  the  re- 
venue was  not  equal  to  the  expenses  of  the  state  ;  and 
the  country  suffered,  though  the  territories  of  which 
it  consisted  were  augmented. 

It  would   be  tedious  to  investigate  all  the  causes 


164  LIFE  OF 

which  were  now  hurrying  France  on  towards  a  civil 
war  :  the  immediate  pretext  for  the  first  open  rupture 
between  the  cardinal  and  the  parliament,  more  abso- 
lutely demands  examination  in  this  place.  Amongst 
other  means  of  recruiting  the  finances  of  the  country, 
a  tax,  according  to  a  certain  tariff,  had  been  laid  upon 
the  entrance  of  all  goods  into  Paris.  This  most  bur- 
densome  and  distressing  of  all  kinds  of  imposition  had 
been  sanctioned  by  the  court  of  aides,  and  had  been  in 
operation  nearly  a  year,  when,  on  the  repeated  remon- 
strances of  the  people,  the  parliament  interfered  as  a 
body,  and  threatened  to  forbid  its  longer  continuance. 
The  court  contended  that  it  was  not  within  the  cogni- 
sance of  the  parliament,  but  merely  of  the  court  of 
aides;  and  Mazarin,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  laws 
and  customs  of  the  French  people,  and  even  spoke  the 
language  at  that  time  with  a  strong  foreign  accent, 
drew  great  ridicule  upon  himself  by  the  terms  in 
which  he  supported  the  tariff  in  a  conversation  with 
deputies  from  the  body  of  magistrates.  Ridicule  is  in 
France  one  of  the  most  dangerous  arms  that  can  be 
employed  against  a  minister;  and  Mazarin  soon  found 
that  the  edict  and  tariff  would  ere  long  be  annulled  by 
a  decree  of  the  parliament.  To  spare  the  royal  au- 
thority from  insult  under  these  circumstances,  he  him- 
self suppressed  the  tariff,  but  soon  after  presented  a 
variety  of  other  edicts  more  burdensome  than  the 
former. 

It  is  said,  indeed,  that  Mazarin  himself  had  no  part 
in  devising  these  measures ;  and  whatever  blame  is  at- 
tached to  them  is  often  cast  upon  Emery,  the  superin- 
tendent of  finance.  As  prime  minister,  however,  and 
the  queen's  favourite,  the  odium  at  the  time  fell  upon 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  165 

the  cardinal,  which  was  not  decreased  by  his  having 
added  to  his  other  employments  that  of  superintendent 
of  the  young  king's  education.  The  parliament  re- 
fused to  verify  the  edicts;  but  a  declaration  for  the 
establishment  of  a  chamber  of  domaines,  which  had 
been  verified  two  or  three  years  before,  but  had  been 
suspended  as  too  onerous  to  the  people,  was  now 
brought  forward,  and  as  the  parliament  could  not  deny 
its  own  act,  was  immediately  put  in  execution.  The 
people,  however,  showed  symptoms  of  tumult ;  and 
the  parliament,  obliged  to  support  its  own  decrees, 
now  endeavoured  to  suppress  the  agitation.  An  im- 
prudent display  of  military  forces  had  nearly  thrown 
the  capital  at  once  into  a  state  of  insurrection  ;  but  an- 
other turn  was  given  to  their  appearance,  and  the  peril 
passed  away. 

More  taxes,  however,  were  found  necessar)' ;  and 
the  king  in  person  carrying  them  to  the  parliament 
caused  them  to  be  registered  in  his  presence.  This 
compulsion,  of  course,  only  served  to  irritate  those  it 
was  intended  to  overawe  :  the  parliament  remonstrated, 
resisted,  and  at  length  decreed  a  union  of  all  the  dif- 
ferent courts,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  a  reform 
into  the  state.  The  regent  and  her  council  now  did 
all  that  irresolution  and  weakness  could  do  to  encou- 
rage the  bold  proceedings  of  their  opponents.  At  one 
time,  the  union  of  the  courts  in  the  hall  of  St.  Louis 
was  forbidden;  at  another,  it  was  tacitly  permitted, 
and  then  again  suppressed  with  violence.  At  length, 
however,  the  occasion  of  a  great  victory  gained  at 
Lens  was  seized  by  the  court  to  execute  a  hazardous 
act  of  authority.  On  the  day  of  the  Te  Beam,  which 
celebrated  the  battle  of  Lens,  the  soldiers  who  accord- 


166  LIFE  OF 

ing  to  custom,  lined  the  streets  through  which  the 
royal  family  had  to  pass,  formed  in  battalions  after  the 
ceremony,  and  occupied  the  Place  Dauphine  and  the 
Pont  Neuf,  while  a  party  of  the  queen's  guards  arrest- 
ed the  President  Blancmesnil,  who  had  distinguished 
himself  by  his  animosity  to  the  court,  and  the  coun- 
sellor Peter  Broussel,  a  great  favourite  of  the  people. 
The  one  was  carried  prisoner  to  Vincennes,  and  the 
other  to  St.  Germain;  but  no  sooner  did  the  tidings  of 
Broussel's  arrest  spread  through  Paris,  than  the  people 
rose  in  every  quarter  of  the  town,  approached  the 
Palais  Royal,  where  the  court  then  was,  and  threat- 
ened to  force  the  guards. 

Both  the  queen  and  Mazarin  showed  great  firmness 
on  the  occasion  ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  fears  and 
irresolution  of  those  by  whom  they  were  surrounded, 
would  have  resisted  all  menaces,  and  supported  with 
arms  the  rash  and  unwise  step  they  had  committed. 
What  might  have  been  the  consequences  had  the  tu- 
mult gone  on  throughout  the  night  cannot  be  known. 
De  Retz  asserts,  that  the  capital  would  have  been  pil- 
laged ;  but  his  sincerity  in  the  whole  business  is  much 
to  be  doubted,  and  his  hatred  of  Mazarin  was  not  con- 
cealed. The  wily  demagogue  was  now  making  the 
first  essays  of  his  power  over  the  people ;  and  though 
it  would  appear  that  he  directed  and  even  headed  them 
in  their  clamour  for  the  release  of  Broussel,  while  he 
affected  to  be  only  anxious  for  the  safety  of  the  queen 
and  the  good  of  the  state ;  yet  he  also  indubitably  saved 
the  marechal  de  Meilleraye  from  a  skirmish  with  the 
populace,  which  might  have  ended  ill  for  that  officer, 
and  he  eventually  persuaded  the  crowds  to  disperse 

and  retire  to  their  homes. 

f 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  167 

De  Retz,  however,  was  more  than  suspected  at  the 
palace  :  every  tongue  was  loud  against  him  ;  and  his 
passion  for  intrigue,  his  indecent  life,  and  the  pains  he 
took  on  all  occasions  to  court  the  people,  added  to  all 
the  doubtful  particulars  of  that  day  of  tumult,  con- 
vinced the  cardinal  that  in  him  was  destined  to  appear 
one  of  the  most  artful,  and  one  of  the  most  powerful, 
enemies  of  the  court.  It  seems  clear  that  his  arrest 
was  determined,  as  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  the 
crowds  had  dispersed  ;  and  that  in  addition  to  this  step, 
Mazarin  had  taken  the  resolution  of  banishing  the  par- 
liament itself  to  Montargis.  The  same  night,  how- 
ever, many  of  De  Retz's  friends,  who  had  passed  the 
evening  at  the  palace,  brought  him  tidings  which 
roused  him  into  active  resistance.  As  archbishop- 
coadjutor  of  Paris,  he  had  obtained  vast  power,  and  he 
now  employed  that  power  with  great  art  to  prepare 
for  the  morrow  a  far  more  serious  insurrection.  Se- 
veral of  the  captains  of  the  quarters  and  other  burgher 
officers  were  called  to  consult  with  him;  and  before 
daylight  the  next  day  the  citizens  were  armed,  and 
ready  to  take  advantage  of  the  first  signal  to  revolt. 
It  was  soon  given  by  the  appearance  of  the  carriage  of 
the  chancellor  rolling  towards  the  Hotel  de  Ville.* 

That  officer  knew  the  danger  of  the  task  he  under- 
took, but,  nevertheless,  he  hesitated  not  to  execute  it. 
His  brother  the  bishop  of  Meaux,  and  his  daughter 
the  duchess  of  Sully,  insisted  upon  accompanying  him, 
and  sharing  his  fate.  By  the  time  he  had  reached  the 
Pont  Neuf,  the  whole  rabble  of  the  town  were  in 
arms;  while  the  more  respectable  citizens  contented 

*  August  27,  1648. 


168  LIFE  OF 

themselves  with  protecting  their  own  houses,  without 
at  all  impeding  the  violence  of  the  rest  towards  those 
whom  they  considered  to  be  the  enemies  of  the  people. 
The  carriage  of  the  chancellor  was  instantly  attacked, 
and  though  it  drove  furiously  on,  he  had  only  time — 
while  the  people  were  working  themselves  up  to  a 
pitch  of  fury  sufficient  for  deliberate  murder — to  make 
his  escape  with  his  brother  and  child  to  the  hotel  de 
Luines,  where  they  were  concealed  by  an  old  servant, 
in  a  boarded  closet,  separated  by  a  flying  partition  from 
a  large  room.  The  crowd,  in  the  mean  time,  having 
followed  his  carriage  as  fast  as  they  could,  tore  it  to 
pieces  before  the  gates,  and  concluding  that  he  had 
entered  there,  broke  into  the  house  and  ran  hastily 
over  it,  swearing  that  they  would  tear  him  limb  from 
limb,  and  scatter  his  body  through  the  streets  of  the 
capital.  Their  steps  and  their  imprecations  were  all 
heard;  and  making  a  hasty  confession  to  his  brother 
the  bishop  of  Meaux,  he  prepared  for  death.  The  in- 
surgents, however,  passed  on  without  noticing  his 
place  of  refuge;  and  concluding  that  he  had  left  his 
carriage  and  escaped  on  foot,  they  quilted  the  hotel  de 
Luines,  where  he  remained  till  he  was  rescued  by  the 
marechal  de  Meilleraye  and  a  regiment  of  the  guard. 
As  he  was  conveyed  back  to  the  Palais  Royal,  the 
people  still  endeavoured  to  snatch  him  from  the  hands 
of  those  that  escorted  him,  and  poured  a  fire  of  mus- 
ketry upon  the  carriage  in  which  he  had  been  placed, 
as  it  passed  by  the  Place  Dauphine.  The  fair  duchess 
of  Sully  was  slightly  wounded  by  a  ball  in  the  arm, 
and  several  of  the  guards  and  attendants  were  killed ; 
but  the  chancellor  remained  unhurt,  and  returned  to 
the  queen  with  tidings  that  Paris  was  completely  io 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  169 

the  hands  of  malecontents;  that  chains  were  drawn, 
and  barricades  raised  in  every  street,  and  that  the  most 
serious  consequences  were  likely  to  ensue  unless  she 
yielded  so  far  as  to  set  Broussel  at  liberty. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  the  parliament  appeared  in 
procession,  to  demand  the  liberation  of  the  prisoner; 
but  the  queen  received  them  with  firmness,  and  replied 
by  declaring  that  she  had  no  personal  enmity  against 
Broussel,  but  that  she  was  determined  to  make  the 
authority  of  the  king  respected.  "  If,"  she  added, 
"  the  courts  of  law  have  any  boon  to  demand  at  my 
hands  let  them  first  return  to  their  duty,  and  they  will 
not  find  me  slow  to  confer  any  favour  which  they  are 
entitled  to  ask." 

With  this  unsatisfactory  answer  the  parliament  were 
forced  to  return,  but  the  populace  would  not  let  them 
pass  the  barricades;  and  with  threats  and  imprecations 
on  the  head  of  the  chief  president,  whom  they  believed 
to  be  favourable  to  the  court,  they  sent  them  back  to 
demand  the  immediate  liberation  of  Broussel.  At  the 
Palais  Royal  they  retired  to  a  room  to  deliberate  in 
order  to  find  means  of  entering  into  a  compromise; 
and  after  having  received  some  refreshments  a  long 
discussion  took  place,  at  the  end  of  which  they  pro- 
mised the  queen  to  suspend  their  obnoxious  delibera- 
tions for  some  months  if  she  would  set  Broussel  at 
liberty.  To  this,  by  the  advice  of  her  minister,  and 
of  the  weak  and  undecided  duke  of  Orleans,  she  con- 
sented; and  for  a  time  some  degree  of  tranquillity  was 
restored. 

The  firing  of  musketry,  however,  continued  all 
night;  and  the  next  day,  even  after  Broussel  had  been 
set  at  liberty,  several  little  accidents  caused  from  time 

VOL.  II.  15 


li 


170  LIFE  OF 

to  time  new  assemblies  of  the  people,  who  by  a  word 
might  have  been  directed  against  the  palace  itself. 
Two  powder  wagons  entering  the  city  produced  an 
immediate  tumult,  in  which  they  were  torn  to  pieces 
and  pillaged.     The  appearance  of  some  cavalry  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  town  occasioned  a  report  to  be 
spread  that  it  was  the  queen's  intention  to  carry  off  the 
king,  and  then  give  the  city  up  to  the  soldiery;  and 
taking  a  bold  resolution  she  sent  away  all  extraordi- 
nary guards,   and,   despatching  a  messenger  for  the 
Prevot  des  Marchands,  informed  him  of  what  she  had 
done,  gave  up  the  keys  of  Paris  to  the  people,  and 
endeavoured  to  prove,  by  the  confidence  which  she 
displayed,   that    she    entertained    no   sinister   design 
against  the  citizens.     Towards  night  the  tumult  in- 
creased, especially  around  the  Palais  Royal;  the  appre- 
hensions of  the  courtiers  were  so  great  that  all  courtly 
restraint  was  at  an  end;  and  the  queen  heard,  from 
every   one   who   entered,    fresh    tales  of    the    abuse 
showered  upon  her  and  her  minister,  and  new  tidings 
of  danger.     She  bore    the   whole  with   courage  and 
equanimity;  but  not  so  Mazarin,  who  lost  all  firmness 
and  presence  of  mind:  he  surrounded  himself  with 
guards;    he  disguised  himself  in  gray;   he  kept  his 
horses  and  servants  constantly  prepared  for  flight  by 
the  back  of  the  building,  and  showed  himself  utterly 
incapable  of  giving  the  queen  either  assistance  or  ad- 
vice in  her  moment  of  need  and  peril.     In  a  brief 
conference  with  the  parliament,  he  was  so  agitated  as 
to  repeat  over  and  over  again  a  few  insignificant  words? 
which  he  seemed  to  have  got  by  heart,  till,  in  the  midst 
of  the  danger  of  the  state,  and  the  anxiety  of  all  par- 
ties, he  excited  laughter  by  his  unmanly  apprehensions. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  171 

When  at  length  the  tumult  ended,  and  the  streets  of 
Paris,  as  the  night  advanced,  began  to  resume  some 
degree  of  tranquillity,  whatever  might  be  thought  of 
the  firmness  and  intrepidity  of  the  queen,  there  was 
but  one  opinion  amongst  the  courtiers  as  to  the  weak- 
ness and  timidity  of  the  minister. 

Quiet  having  been  for  a  time  restored,  Mazarin  en- 
tertained hopes  of  being  able  to  regain  his  advantage 
over  the  parliament  during  the  vacation.  He  might, 
indeed,  expect  to  do  so  on  the  most  justifiable  grounds; 
as  the  approach  of  peace  gave  reason  to  believe  that  a 
great  diminution  might  be  effected  in  the  expenses  of 
the  state,  and  that  the  people  might  be  thus  relieved 
from  the  burdensome  taxes  which  weighed  them  down. 
On  the  24th  of  October,  1648,  a  definitive  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed  at  Munster,  between  the  king  of 
France  and  the  emperor;  and  the  vast  advantages 
gained  by  France,  the  triumph  of  Richelieu's  far-seeing 
policy,  and  its  full  consummation  by  the  diplomatic 
skill  of  his  successor,  were  well  calculated  to  raise  the 
government  of  Mazarin  in  the  favour  of  the  nation. 
The  effect,  however,  was  not  such  as  might  have  been 
expected.  The  parliament  had  obtained  too  much 
power  not  to  demand  greater  concessions  still ;  the 
people  were  disgusted  and  shocked  by  the  corruption 
and  ostentation  of  Emery,  the  superintendent  of  finance, 
an  Italian  adventurer  of  the  worst  character.  No  im- 
mediate relief  in  regard  to  imposts  could  of  course  be 
afforded;  and  the  populace  sustained  the  parliament  in 
all  their  unjust  exactions,  while  the  parliament  excited 
the  people  to  every  sort  of  attack  upon  the  court.  One 
demand  followed  another,  and  was  granted ;  till  at 
length  the  parliament  required  permission  to  sit  even 


172  life  or 

during  the  very  vacation  on  which  Mazarin  had  calcu- 
lated for  the  re-establishment  of  his  power.  To  refuse 
was  useless,  as  the  courts  were  evidently  determined 
to  sit  without  permission,  if  they  could  not  obtain  it; 
and,  having  granted  their  request,  the  queen,  with  the 
young  king  and  her  minister,  quitted  Paris  and  retired 
to  Ruel. 

The  parliament  and  the  people  now  became  alarmed: 
the  prince  of  Conde  and  his  victorious  army  were  daily 
expected,  to  punish  the  Parisians  for  their  turbulence, 
while  the  king  was  at  a  distance  from  their  menaces: 
and  Mazarin  showed  that  he  felt  his  power  increased 
by  ordering  the  arrest  of  Chavigni  and  Chateauneuf, 
two  persons  whom  he  suspected  of  giving  concealed 
encouragement  to  the  cabals  of  Paris.  The  courage 
of  the  malecontents  would  probably  now  have  failed 
them,  had  not  the  archbishop-coadjutor  de  Retz  sus- 
tained their  resolution  by  his  own  daring,  and  gained 
fresh  advantages  by  his  skill  in  intrigue.  An  old  de- 
cree— pronounced  at  the  time  of  the  death  of  Concini, 
marechal  d'Ancre— by  which  foreigners  were  forbid- 
den to  meddle  with  affairs  of  state,  was  revived  against 
Mazarin;  and  the  prince  of  Conde  himself,  jealous  of 
the  minister,  was  brought  still  farther  over  to  the  party 
of  the  parliament  by  De  Retz.  He  was  anxious,  how- 
ever, to  preserve  tranquillity;  and,  after  long  negoti- 
ations, obtained  a  declaration,  by  which  Chavigni  was 
restored  to  liberty,  but  exiled.  The  king,  too,  return- 
ed to  Paris,  the  parliament  tacitly  agreeing'to  abandon 
its  proceedings  against  the  minister. 

It  soon,  however,  found  means  to  recommence  the 
attack  upon  Mazarin.  Libels  of  the  most  infamous 
description,  directed  both  against  the  cardinal  and  the 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  173 

queen,  were  the  daily  amusement  of  the  Parisians;  and 
the  very  first  edict  which  issued  from  the  court,  for  the 
purpose  of  borrowing  money  for  the  necessary  expenses 
of  the  state,  was  made  a  fresh  subject  of  agitation  and 
resistance.  All  old  grievances  were  resumed,  and  ne- 
gotiations which  had  commenced  with  the  Spanish 
viceregal  court  in  Flanders  were  carried  on  so  openly, 
that  information  thereof  was  obtained  by  the  regent.* 
A  thousand  evil  reports  were  circulated  to  exasperate 
the  people  against  the  regency  by  the  opposite  party, 
who  had,  by  this  time,  acquired  the  name  of  the 
Fronde;  and  at  length  it  was  determined  by  the  queen 
and  her  council  to  carry  the  king  to  St.  Germain,  in 
order  to  use  more  vigorous  measures  against  the  re- 
fractory parliament.  The  deliberations  which  preceded 
this  step,  and  the  execution  of  the  queen's  evasion  it- 
self, were  conducted  with  the  greatest  secrecy;  so  that 
while  the  turbulent  Parisians  fancied  the  court  fully 
occupied  with  the  festivities  of  Christmas,  Mazarin, 
the  prince  de  Conde,  who  was  now  more  friendly  to 
the  regent,  the  king,  the  queen,  and  all  the  principal 
members  of  the  administration,  made  their  escape  from 
Paris  on  the  night  preceding  Twelfth-day.  The  army 
was  brought  near  to  Paris;  a  lettre  de  cachet  was  sent 
to  the  parliament,  commanding  it  to  retire  from  the 
capital  to  Montargis.  The  prince  de  Conde  declared 
that  he  wrould  take  Paris  in  fifteen  days;  and  Le 
Tellier,  who  knew  the  Parisians  better  than  any  of  the 
court,  declared  that  the  stoppage  of  supplies  on  two 
market  days  would  be  enough  to  reduce  the  town  by 
famine. 

*  This  appears  from  a  letter  of  the  regent,  addressed  to  the 
Prev6tdes  Marchands,  &c.  and  dated  January  5th,  1649. 

15* 


174  LIFE  OF 

At  first  the  parliament  seemed  terror-struck;  but  re- 
fused to  receive  the  lettre  de  cachet,  and  sent  an  hum- 
ble remonstrance  to  the  queen.     Anne  of  Austria,  on 
her  part,  would  not  hear  the  remonstrance;  and  despair 
gave  back  to  the  parliament  that  energy  of  which  fear 
had  deprived  it.     A  decree  was  immediately  passed, 
banishing  Mazarin  from  the  country,  and  putting  him 
without  the  pale  of  the  laws  if  he  remained  in  France 
eight  days  ;  and  the  civil  war  commenced  with  an  ir- 
regular siege  of  the  capital.     But  before  the  blockade 
of  Paris  had  continued  two   months,  though  it  was 
weakly  conducted, and  provisions  entered  in  abundance, 
all  members  of  the  parliament  began  to  grow  weary  of 
the  wrar.     The   generals  whom  they  had  elected  to 
command   them   were   divided  into  various  factions: 
the  common   people   were  unruly  and   bloodthirsty; 
the  nobles  selfish,  vain,  and  light;  and  though  Spain 
offered   immediate  aid,  and  the  famous  Turenne  de- 
clared against  the  court,  deputies  were  sent  out  to  treat 
for  a  peace;  which  was  concluded   by  the  parliament 
on  the  11th  of  March,  1649.     The  generals,  however, 
refused  to  take  part  in  this  treaty,  and  endeavoured  to 
gain    greater   advantages    for   themselves ;    but    each 
sought  his  own  interests,  or  consulted  his  own  vanity 
alone.     While  they  thus  by  their  divisions  and  follies 
defeated  their  own  purposes,  the  minister  sought  the 
accomplishment   of  his,   with   skill   and   moderation; 
the  army  of  Turenne,  bribed  as  one  body  by  Mazarin, 
abandoned  its  great  commander;  and  the  generals  were 
ultimately  obliged  to  accept  the  amnesty  proposed  by 
the  court,  which  was  received  by  the  parliament  on 
the   1st  of  April.     The  only    person   of  distinction,  * 
whose  name  was  not  particularly  specified  in  the  am- 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  175 

nesty,  was  Gondi,  archbishop-coadjutor  of  Paris, 
afterwards  cardinal  de  Retz;  but  this  was  done  at  his 
own  desire ;  for  while  the  general  pacification  rendered 
his  personal  security  certain,  his  apparent  exclusion 
maintained  in  full  force  all  his  influence  over  the  peo- 
ple.* 

The  queen  did   riot  immediately  return  to  Paris, 
although  she  had  promised  to  do  so ;  but  on  the  con- 
trary, proceeded  first  to  Compeigne  and  then  to  Amiens. 
It  has  been  supposed,  that  she  was  induced  to  act  thus 
by  the  fears  which  Mazarin  entertained  of  the  Parisian 
populace.     Madame  de  Motteville,  however,  who  was 
with  the  court,  does  not  mention  any  such   motive. 
Nevertheless,  neither  the  queen  nor  her  minister  de- 
ceived themselves  in  regard  to  the  probable  stability  of 
the  peace.     Friends  had  been  rewarded,  enemies  had 
been  bribed  in  vain,  for  both  were  alike  insatiable;  and 
the  supporters  of  the  minister  contended  that  their  re- 
compenses had  not  been  equivalent  to  their  past  ser- 
vices, while  his  opponents  saw  that  renewed  rebellion 
would   obtain   fresh  advantages.     Conde,  whose  arm 
had  supported  the  weakness  of  the  court  during  its  ab- 
sence from  Paris,  estimated  the  benefits  he  had  conferred 
at  a  much  higher  rate  than  he  was  justified  in  dorng, 

*  The  British  Museum,  amongst  the  Brienne  papers,  contains 
one  of  the  most  curious  collections  of  documents  concerning'  the 
wars  of  the  Fronde  that  I  have  ever  met  with.  Some  of  the 
manifestoes,  remonstrances,  and  proclamations  of  the  Fronde  are 
models  in  their  peculiar  kind  of  composition.  Did  we  not  know 
from  other  sources  that  Paris  was  ringing  with  riot  laughter, 
ribaldry,  and  libels  during  the  whole  time  of  the  siege,  from  these 
documents  we  should  infer  that  her  walls  had  then  contained  no- 
thing but  a  band  of  stern  patriots  defending  their  rights  and 
liberties,  with  deep  grief,  against  the  worst  of  tyrants. 


176  LIFE  OP 

and  became  not  only  exacting,  but  insolent.  In  order 
to  give  law  to  the  court,  he  united  himself  to  the 
Fronde,  led  by  his  fair  and  intriguing  sister,  the 
duchess  of  Longueville;  but  divisions  soon  spread 
among  the  different  parties  of  which  the  faction  con- 
sisted, and  Mazarin  hastened  to  take  advantage  of  their 
weaknesses. 

Tired  of  flattering  the  parliament,  Conde  made  some 
steps  towards  a  reconciliation  with  the  court.  The  par- 
liament even  began  to  separate  itself  from  the  party  of 
the  Fronde;  and  in  the  midst  of  these  intrigues  the 
prince  de  Conde  was  persuaded  that  the  leaders  of  that 
faction  had  laid  a  scheme  for  assassinating  him.  This 
caused  a  complete  rupture  between  leaders,  whose 
union  must  have  proved  ruinous  to  Mazarin;  but  still 
Conde  treated  the  minister  with  contempt  and  indig- 
nity, and  endeavoured  to  form  a  separate  party  from 
amongst  the  various  princes  of  his  own  family,  against 
both  the  court  and  the  Fronde.  He  boldly  charged 
the  latter  with  attempting  to  assassinate  him ;  but  his 
accusation  against  the  chiefs  of  the  faction  proved  un- 
availing, and  only  served  to  drive  them  over  to  the  court, 
with  whom  the  parliament  was  now  acting  in  concert. 
At  length,  the  domineering  tone  which  he  assumed,  and 
the  power  which  he  was  likely  to  obtain,  produced  a 
coalition  of  all  the  most  opposite  parties  against  him. 
The  queen  sent  for  the  coadjutor  at  night ;  and  with 
him  and  his  friends  the  arrest  of  the  princes  of  Conde 
and  Conti  and  of  the  duke  de  Longueville  was  deter- 
mined upon.  Although  the  step  was  bold,  with  the 
aid  of  the  parliament  and  the  Fronde  it  was  easily 
executed ;  and  on  the  18th  of  January,  1650,  the  three 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  177 

princes  were  arrested  in  the  queen's  apartments,  and 
conducted  prisoners  to  Vincennes. 

Consternation  spread  amongst  their  partisans;  but 
efforts  were  soon  made  to  support  their  cause  by  more 
vigorous  means  than  mere  complaints  and  remon- 
strances. The  duchess  of  Longueville  fled  to  Nor- 
mandy, and  excited  an  insignificant  part  of  that  pro- 
vince to  revolt.  In  Burgundy,  of  which  Conde  had 
been  governor,  symptoms  of  insurrection  began  to 
show  themselves;  and  a  number  of  his  friends  and  ad- 
herents retired  to  the  south,  and  sowed  the  seeds  of 
rebellion  in  Poitou  and  Guyenne.  The  court,  how- 
ever, accompanied  by  a  small  force,  proceeded  at  once 
into  Normandy,  and  forced  the  duchess  de  Longueville 
to  fly  to  Holland  by  sea.  Thence  turning  towards 
Burgundy,  Mazarin  reduced  that  province  to  subjec- 
tion, and  then  again  returned  to  Paris,  crowned  with 
complete  success,  both  in  the  east  and  west.  While 
in  Burgundy  one  of  the  regiments  which  had  accom- 
panied the  court  had  suffered  itself  to  be  seduced  by 
the  friends  of  the  imprisoned  princes,  and  had  con- 
trived a  scheme  for  arresting  the  minister.  But  Maza- 
rin received  timely  warning,  and  took  such  means  as 
frustrated  the  efforts  of  the  conspirators.  He  exercised, 
great  moderation,  however,  and  no  severity  followed. 

In  the  mean  time  the  factions  which  had  agitated 
Paris  were  beginning  to  show  themselves  anew.  The 
princess-dowager  de  Conde  appealed  to  the  parliament 
in  favour  of  her  children;  and  the  same  irregular  as- 
semblies and  tumultuous  proceedings  began  to  take 
place  which  had  ushered  in  the  civil  war.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  dukes  of  Bouillon,  Rochefoucault,  and 
others,  with  the  young  princess  of  Conde,  had  excited 


178  LIFE  OP 

a  revolt  in  Guyenne ;    and  on  his  return  to  Paris, 
Mazarin  found  all  the  former  factions  blended  together 
in  a  state  of  inextricable   confusion,  from    which   it 
would  be  in  vain  in  this  place  to  attempt  to  disentangle 
even  the  principal  threads.     Suffice  it  that  Mazarin  per- 
ceived  new  cause  for  apprehension,  and  induced  the 
queen  once  more  to  put  herself  at  the  head  of  her  army, 
and  proceed  to  superintend  the  siege  of  Bordeaux.  That 
town,  after  a  gallant  resistance,  capitulated  upon  terms 
honourable  to  its  defenders ;  and  the  great  moderation 
which  Mazarin  showed  in  this  instance,   as  well  as  on 
every   other    occasion    throughout   the   wars   of  the 
Fronde,  marks  one  of  the  best  traits  in  his  character, 
and  distinguishes  him  strongly  from  Richelieu.     The 
imprisonment  of  the  princes,  however,  and  the  war  of 
Guyenne  had  done  far  greater  injury  to  the  cardinal 
and  his  party  than  the  fall  of  Bordeaux  had  done  good. 
The  people  began  to  pity  the  prisoners,  the  parliament 
of  Paris  showed  an  interest  in  their  fate  and  in  that  of 
the  revolted  Bordelais:  the  duke  of  Orleans  himself, 
now  guided  entirely  by  the  coadjutor,  took  part  against 
Mazarin  on  several  occasions;  and  on  his  return  from 
Bordeaux,  the  minister  once  more  found  the  capital  on 
the  eve  of  a  revolt. 

He  seemed  to  trust,  however,  to  his  previous  success 
and  to  his  natural  cunning  to  bear  him  triumphantly- 
through  the  new  difficulties  that  threatened  him. 
Judging,  perhaps  wrongly,  that  the  coadjutor  had 
raised  up  many  of  the  obstacles  which  had  lately  im- 
peded his  course,  and  jealous  of  the  prelate's  influence 
with  the  duke  of  Orleans,  Mazarin  showed  a  determi- 
nation to  break  with  him  entirely.  The  tale-bearers 
of  the  court  magnified  every  appearance  against  the 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  179 

Jt 

coadjutor,  who  at  length  became  alarmed  for  his  per- 
sonal security.  On  the  arrest  of  the  princes,  Mazarin 
had  made  a  voluntary  offer  of  obtaining  for  Gondi  a 
cardinal's  hat;  but  the  coadjutor  had  then  refused  it, 
knowing  that  any  favour  received  from  the  minister 
would  ruin  his  credit  with  the  people.  He  now,  how- 
ever, looked  upon  the  rank  of  cardinal  in  a  very  dif- 
ferent light;  and  he  demanded  the  support  of  Mazarin 
in  obtaining  that  which  he  had  before  declined,  being 
certain  that  if  it  were  refused  his  open  breach  with  the 
minister  would  restore  him  fully  to  the  favour  of  the 
people;  and  if  it  were  granted,  his  new  dignity  would 
secure  him  from  the  bad  effects  of  Mazarin's  enmity. 
The  cardinal,  however,  opposed  his  promotion ;  and 
Gondi  determined  to  release  Conde,  and  place  him  at 
once  in  direct  opposition  to  the  minister. 

Vigour  was  given  to  this  determination  by  news  that 
Turenne,  who  had  hitherto  remained  in  exile,  had 
gathered  together  a  considerable  number  of  French 
malecontents,  and  had  been  reinforced  by  a  large  body 
of  veteran  troops  from  the  Spanish  Netherlands.  He 
now  occupied  Chateau  Porcien,  and  Rethel;  and  the 
force  of  the  marechal  du  Piessis,  which  was  opposed 
to  him,  was  by  no  means  sufficient  to  resist  his  farther 
progress.  In  the  midst  of  all  the  intrigues  of  the 
court,  however,  Mazarin  quitted  Paris,  and,  gathering 
together  various  bodies  of  troops,  advanced  to  support 
Du  Piessis.  During  his  absence  the  Frondeurs,  who 
doubted  not  that  Turenne  would  easily  overthrow  the 
minister,  lost  no  opportunity  of  turning  his  absence  to 
advantage.  A  requisition  was  presented  to  the  parlia- 
ment on  behalf  of  the  princess  de  Conde,  praying  that 
the  princes  might  be  brought  to  Paris,  and  either  tried 


ISO  LIFE  OF 


« 


or  set  at  liberty.  Every  means  that  eloquence,  cun- 
ning, and  deceit  could  employ  were  brought  forward 
to  obtain  that  object;  and  for  several  days  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  parliament  became  more  and  more  mena- 
cing, when  suddenly  the  news  arrived  that  Mazarin 
had  taken  Rethel,  and  immediately  afterwards  that 
Turenne  had  been  totally  defeated,  while  marching  to 
succour  that  town. 

Consternation  spread  amongst  the  princes'  partisans; 
and  for  a  time  nothing  seemed  sufficient  to  raise  them 
from  the  state  of  discouragement  into  which  they  had 
been  thrown.     The  coadjutor,  however,  the  princess 
palatine,  the  duchess  de  Chevreuse,  and  several  inferior 
persons,  laboured  indefatigably  to  unite  into  one  party 
all  who  favoured  the  princes  and  all  who  disliked  the 
minister.     Secret  treaties  were  entered  into;  the  par- 
liament had  already  declared  itself;  the  Fronde,  which 
had  strengthened  the  hands  of  Mazarin  for  the  arrest 
of  Conde,  was  now  prepared  to  liberate  the  princes,  in 
order  to  destroy  the  minister,  and  the  duke  of  Orleans 
was  easily  brought  to  entertain  the  same  views.     The 
only  difficulty  was  to  induce  him  to  act  openly.     All 
these  proceedings  had  been  kept  perfectly  secret  till 
the  minister  once  more  returned  in  triumph;  and  the 
people  even    were  so  little   prepared  for  what  was  to 
follow,  that  they  received  him  well,   and  thronged  to 
see  him  pass  through   the  streets.     The  scene  very 
soon  changed,  and  the  clouds  darkened  over  the  poli- 
tical horizon.      Though  his  danger  was  certainly  great, 
Mazarin   had  still   one  resource, — to  free  the   princes 
himself,  and  make  a  merit  of  the  act.     To  this  he  was 
pressed   by  many  persons;   and  even   his   most   bitter 
enemies  willingly  left  him  the  opportunity  of  doing  so 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  181 

on  more  than  one  occasion,  holding  out  threats  of  a 
union  against  him  which  could  not  be  misunderstood* 
Nevertheless,  Mazarin,  with  that  narrow  cunning 
which  mingled  with  and  debased  many  of  his  most 
skilful  negotiations,  now  overreached  himself.  Be- 
lieving the  threats  held  out,  and  the  attitude  assumed 
by  the  parliament,  the  Fronde,  and  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  to  be  all  an  unsubstantial  display,  produced 
for  the  purpose  of  intimidating  him,  he  attempted  to 
deceive  them  in  his  turn.  But  after  various  delays, 
his  surprise  was  not  small  to  find  that  the  tremendous 
coalition  with  which  he  had  been  menaced  had  really 
taken  place.  The  parliament  led  the  way,  the  Fronde 
followed;  and  at  length  the  duke  of  Orleans,  too  irreso- 
lute to  be  calm,  and  too  weak  to  be  moderate, 
not  only  openly  declared  himself  in  favour  of  the 
princes,  but  worked  himself  up  into  fury  in  a  conver- 
sation with  the  minister,  and  quitted  the  palace,  vow- 
ing that  he  would  never  take  his  seat  in  the  council 
again  till  Mazarin  had  been  expelled. 

The  cardinal,  under  the  sudden  tempest  which  broke 
upon  his  head,  if  we  may  trust  madame  de  Motteville, 
showed  greater  calmness  and  firmness  than  he  had 
hitherto  evinced  in  situations  of  difficulty.  A  great 
part  of  the  army  was  strongly  attached  to  him  ;  a  con- 
siderable force  was  within  a  short  distance;  and  his 
friends  advised  him  strongly  to  call  the  troops  to  his 
aid,  and  once  more  to  assert  the  royal  authority  in 
arms.  But  Mazarin  did  not  choose  to  compromise 
the  king  and  queen  in  a  contention  with  the  parliament 
and  the  duke  of  Orleans;  and  as  soon  as  he  heard  the 
declaration  of  that  prince  he  sought  the  regent,  and  de- 
clared that  he  was  ready  either  to  quit  the  realm,  in 

VOL.    II.  1 6 


182  LIFE  OF 

order  to  free  it  from  the  factions  to  which  his  stay 
seemed  to  give  rise,  or  to  remain,  and  in  her  service 
risk  still  farther  the  life  which  was  already  threatened 
on  all  sides.  The  queen  hesitated  long,  and  Mazarin 
waited  till  the  last  moment  that  his  stay  was  safe:  but 
at  length  he  determined  to  fly,  and  liberate  the  princes 
himself.  On  the  evening  of  his  proposed  flight  he 
joined  the  royal  circle,  which  was  exceedingly  crowded* 
and  conversed  calmly  with  the  queen  in  public.  One 
of  his  confidants,  however,  having  privately  informed 
him  that  his  intended  escape  from  Paris  had  been  ru- 
moured, and  that  the  people  were  running  to  arms,  he 
took  leave  of  the  queen  in  a  casual  manner,  and  hasten- 
ing to  his  own  apartments,  disguised  himself  with  a 
red  cloak  and  a  plumed  hat,  and  issuing  forth,  on  foot, 
by  the  door  which  led  into  the  rue  de  Richelieu,  he 
walked  to  a  spot  where  horses  had  been  prepared  for 
him. 

He  found  the  town  in  a  state  of  great  agitation,  and 
had  he  been  recognised  would  probably  have  been  as- 
sassinated. He  effected  his  exit  through  the  gates, 
however,  in  safety,  and  did  not  pause  till  he  reached 
St.  Germain.  He  thence  proceeded  to  Havre,  to  which 
place  the  imprisoned  princes  had  been  removed  ;  and 
as  he  bore  a  secret  order  from  the  queen  to  set  them 
at  liberty,  it  is  probable  that  he  hoped  to  effect  his  re- 
conciliation with  Conde,  and  return  with  him  to  the 
capital ;  but  after  treating  him  with  much  politeness, 
the  three  princes  set  out  alone,  and  Mazarin,  losing 
his  hopes,  retired  at  once  into  exile.  He  wisely 
avoided  taking  advantage  of  the  offer  of  an  asylum 
made  him  by  the  Spanish  government  of  the  Nether- 
lands ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  retired  to  the  electorate  of 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  183 

Cologne,  where  he  lived  in  peace,  governing  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  court  as  absolutely,  though  not  so 
easily,  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  as  he  had  done  in 
the  French  capital.  In  a  long  letter  to  the  king  he 
justified  himself  from  the  imputations  cast  upon  him 
by  the  Fronde,  and  set  forth  his  real  services  to  the 
country.  It  is  generally  supposed,  also,  that  he  caused 
the  disgrace  of  the  keeper  of  the  seals,  who  had  been 
certainly  intriguing  with  his  enemies,  and  that  it  was 
by  his  advice  that  Anne  of  Austria  resolved  to  gain 
the  prince  de  Conde,  at  any  price,  more  for  the  sake 
of  dividing  her  opponents  than  from  any  substantial 
support  which  she  could  hope  to  obtain  from  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  parliament  proceeded  to 
every  step  which  could  irritate  the  court,  and  not  only 
rendered  decrees  directly  levelled  against  Mazarin,  but 
also  obtained  declarations,  by  which  all  cardinals,  whe- 
ther foreigners  or  natives,  were  to  be  excluded  from 
any  share  in  the  government  for  ever.*  But  while 
the  body  of  the  law  was  thus  proceeding,  other  events 
were  taking  place  which  prepared  the  way  for  Maza- 
rin's  return.  Conde,  gained  to  the  court,  left  the  duke 
of  Orleans  in  disgrace  ;  the  duke  of  Beaufort  for  a  time 
abandoned  the  Fronde,  and  attached  himself  to  the 
princes.  The  duke  of  Orleans,  timid  and  ungenerous, 
forsook  the  coadjutor  Gondi,  in  order  to  make  his 
peace  with  the  regent,  keeping  up  with  the  archbishop, 
however,  a  secret  correspondence,  which  soon  proved 
of  great  utility  to  both.  On  the  other  hand  the  cardi- 
nal, from  his  place  of  exile,  opposed  the  fulfilment  of 

% 

*  De  Retz  explains  how  the  court  so  completely  lost  its  influ- 
ence in  a  few  words  :  "  La  cour  chicana  toutes  choses  a  son  ordi- 
naire ;  elle  se  relacha  aussi  de  toutes  choses  a  son  ordinaire." 


184  LIFE  OF 

those  excessive  concessions  which  Conde  had  exacted, 
and  which  would  have  left  the  crown  stripped  of  half 
its  power.  Conde,  indignant  at  this  tergiversation, 
quarrelled  with  the  queen,  put  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  party,  and  prepared  to  wrest  from  the  regency  by 
opposition  that  which  had  been  denied  to  favour.  But 
the  queen  by  this  time  had  gained  the  archbishop- 
coadjutor  and  the  duke  of  Orleans ;  and  Conde,  thwart- 
ed in  his  plans,  and  disappointed  in  his  expectations, 
after  long  and  tedious  disputes  with  the  court,  the  par- 
liament, and  the  coadjutor,  quitted  Paris,  and  retired 
to  Guyenne.  Here  he  raised  troops,  gathered  stores, 
and  treated  with  Spain;  but  Turenne  declared  for  the 
regency  ;  and  the  queen  took  prompt  measures  for  op- 
posing force  by  force. 

The  court,  with  the  king,  who  had  now  reached  his 
majority,  set  out  in  the  end  of  September  for  Berri,  in 
order  to  conduct  the  war  against  the  prince  de  Conde 
with  greater  vigour;  and  messengers  were  sent  to 
Mazarin,  for  the  purpose  of  informing  him  of  all  that 
had  occurred,  and  of  inviting  him  to  return  to  France. 
Mazarin  accordingly  advanced  to  Dinan,  where,  with 
the  aid  of  a  number  of  his  friends  who  had  joined  him, 
he  began  to  raise  troops,  for  the  purpose  both  of  sup- 
porting the  king  and  insuring  his  own  safety.  News 
of  considerable  successes  gained  by  the  count  de  Har- 
court  against  the  raw,  ill-regulated  troops  of  the  prince 
de  Conde,  soon  reached  the  cardinal;  and  at  length,  at 
the  head  of  8000  men,  commanded  by  the  marshals 
d'Aumont  and  de  Hocquincourt,  the  minister  com- 
menced his  march  into  the  heart  of  France.  The  par- 
liament which  had  lately  shown  but  little  activity,  rose 
in  fury  as  soon  as  the  news  of  Mazarin's  advance 
reached  Paris,  pronounced  a  thousand  virulent  decrees 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  185 

against  him,  ordered  his  splendid  library  to  be  sold, 
and  offered  150,000  livres  for  his  head.  The  effect  of 
parliamentary  wrath  which  gave  Mazarin  the  greatest 
pain,  seems  to  have  been  the  sale  of  his  library  ;  and 
the  fulminations  of  the  assembly  did  not  make  him 
even  hesitate  on  his  march. 

The  court  was  now  at  Poitiers ;  and  it  was  the  30th 
of  January,  1652,  ere  Mazarin  reached  that  fine  old 
town.  His  reception  was  more  gratifying  even  than 
he  could  have  expected  :  the  king  and  his  brother 
went  out  to  meet  him ;  and  the  queen  loaded  him  with 
congratulations,  although  it  had  been  remarked,  and 
even  notified  to  Mazarin,  that  her  majesty  had  shown 
less  eagerness  for  his  return  since  the  retreat  of  Conde 
to  Bordeaux  than  she  had  done  while  her  will  was 
more  powerfully  opposed.  He  now  resumed  the  title 
of  minister,  and  wielded  the  whole  power  of  the  state; 
while  Harcourt,  Hocquincourt,  and  Turenne  defended 
the  cause  of  the  king  in  the  field.  Both  armies  now 
approached  the  capital;  and  on  one  occasion  the  court 
and  minister  would  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
insurgents  near  Gien,  had  not  the  calm  firmness  of 
Turenne  stopped  the  impetuous  course  of  Conde,  and 
remedied  the  defeat  of  the  marechal  de  Hocquincourt. 
Previous  to  this  event,  however,  an  occurrence  took 
place  which  gave  to  Mazarin  the  prospect  of  better 
support  than  he  had  hitherto  obtained  during  his  ad- 
ministration. He  had  become  the  favourite  of  the 
regent,  it  is  true,  and  had  at  different  times  been  up- 
held by  each  of  the  various  factions  which  had  flitted 
over  the  phantasmagoria  scene  of  the  capital;  but  no 
great  and  influential  body  had  ever  come  forward  to 

16* 


186  LIFE  OF 

applaud  his  conduct,  and  to  reprove  his  enemies,  till  a 
deputation  from  the  clergy  of  France,  headed  by  the 
archbishop  of  Rouen,  waited  upon  the  king  to  present 
a  remonstrance  against  the  violent  proceedings  of  the 
parliament  of  Paris  towards  one  of  the  princes  of  the 
church.  The  archbishop  did  not  fail  to  seize  this  oc- 
casion of  praising  the  minister;  and  the  court  was  not 
a  little  gratified  to  receive  this  public  testimony  of  the 
approbation  of  the  French  clergy  in  regard  to  the  step 
which  had  just  been  taken  in  recalling  Mazarin. 

The  parliament  of  Paris  continued  its  opposition  to 
the  minister;  and  the  prince  de  Conde,  having  quarter- 
ed his  troops  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  capital, 
joined  with  the  duke  of  Orleans  and  the  courts  of  law 
to  demand  the  expulsion  of  Mazarin,  as  an  enemy  of 
the  king  and  the  state,  though  their  own  forces  were 
daily  carrying  on  the  war  against  their  sovereign. 
Nothing,  however,  was  concluded;  and  at  length,  on 
the  2d  of  July,  Turenne,  with  superior  numbers,  at- 
tacked the  army  of  Conde  as  the  prince  was  endea- 
vouring to  effect  his  retreat  from  St.  Cloud.  Conde 
took  refuge  in  the  Faubourg  St.  Antoine,  which  he 
defended  with  extraordinary  gallantry  and  skill  ;  but 
the  larger  force  of  Turenne  and  his  not  unequal  talent 
would  have  overpowered  the  prince,  had  not  the 
daughter  of  the  duke  of  Orleans,  unable  to  persuade 
her  despicable  father  to  act  in  aid  of  his  cousin,  forced 
her  way  into  the  Bastille  which  commanded  the  field 
of  battle,  and  poured  a  cannonade  upon  a  part  of 
Turenne's  army  which  was  marching  to  take  Conde 
in  flank,  while  she  caused  the  guards  to  open  the  Porte 
St.  Antoine,  and  give  admission  to  the  prince  and  his 
forces. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  187 

During  the  few  following  days  some  dreadful  scenes 
of  tumult  and  confusion  now  took  place  in  the  capital; 
and  a  horrible  and  indiscriminate  massacre  at  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  filled  the  city  with  terror,  and  drove 
all  but  the  mere  daring  and  ill  disposed  from  the  par- 
liament. But  still  that  body  attempted  to  negotiate 
with  the  court  in  order  to  obtain  the  exile  of  Mazarin, 
issuing,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  insolent  decrees, 
which  were  instantly  annulled  by  the  king's  council. 
At  length,  Louis  retired  to  Pontoise,  commanding  the 
deputies  of  the  parliament  to  follow  him  thither;  but 
the  parliament  on  its  part  now  proceeded  to  open  re- 
bellion, appointed  the  duke  of  Orleans  lieutenant-gene- 
ral of  the  kingdom,  and  named  the  prince  de  Conde 
commander-in-chief  of  the  insurgent  armies.  The 
court,  however,  was  now  no  longer  to  be  intimidated; 
and  decrees  of  the  council  were  issued,  rendering 
void  those  of  the  parliament,  and  summoning  that 
body  to  follow  the  king  to  Pontoise.  The  duke  of 
Orleans  wrote  to  all  the  governors  of  provinces  :  and 
the  parliament  of  Paris  communicated  with  all  pro- 
vincial parliaments,  in  order  to  bring  about  a  general 
rising  throughout  the  country ;  but  the  result  showed, 
that  while  rebellion  and  faction  were  in  the  capital, 
the  rest  of  France  desired  nothing  but  tranquillity. 
Not  one  governor  answered  the  letter  of  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  but  De  Sourdis  ;  not  one  parliament  was  led 
away  by  that  of  Paris,  except  in  Guyenne. 

In  the  meantime,  several  members  of  the  parliament 
of  Paris  found  means  to  escape  from  the  metropolis  in 
disguise  and  follow  the  king  to  Pontoise,  where  they 
assembled  as  the  legitimate  court,  and  again  proceeded 
to  petition  the  king  to  dismiss  Mazarin  from  hiscoun- 


188  LIFE  OF 

cils.  The  princes  had  already  declared  that  they 
would  lay  down  their  arms  as  soon  as  the  minister 
was  gone ;  and  Mazarin  himself  determined  once 
more  to  withdraw  from  the  court,  and  to  deprive  the 
insurgents  of  their  only  pretext  for  continuing  the 
war ;  thus  casting  upon  them  the  whole  blame  of  any 
farther  tumults  which  might  take  place.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  determination,  Louis  XIV.  issued  a 
declaration  in  reply  to  the  last  remonstrance  of  the 
parliament,  and  setting  forth  the  high  qualities  of  the 
minister,  he  stated  that,  notwithstanding  the  great 
services  the  crown  had  received  from  Mazarin,  the 
king  had  determined,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes 
of  his  parliament,  to  grant  that  permission  to  retire 
from  France,  which  the  cardinal  himself  required. 
Mazarin  accordingly  left  the  court  at  Pontoise  and 
retired  to  Bouillon,  where  he  still  governed  the  coun- 
try by  means  of  Le  Tellier,  who  had  been  reinstated 
in  the  ministry.  The  parliament  of  Paris,  however, 
the  prince  of  Conde,  and  the  duke  of  Orleans,  con- 
tinued to  treat  with  the  court  instead  of  laying  down 
their  arms  ;  and  the  count  of  Fuensaldagnes  seized 
the  opportunity  of  attempting  to  penetrate  into  France 
with  a  considerable  army.  He  had  already  com- 
menced his  march  into  Picardy,  when  the  vigorous 
remonstrances  of  Mazarin,  who  assured  him  that  the 
court  would  sooner  join  forces  at  once  with  Conde 
than  suffer  him  to  advance,  alarmed  the  Spanish  gene- 
ral, and  induced  him  to  retreat. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  divisions  which  existed  in 
the  faction  opposed  to  the  court,  soon  brought  on  its 
own  ruin.  The  duke  of  Orleans  and  the  Parisians 
were  heartily  tired  of  the  war ;  the  prince  of  Conde 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  189 

was  hated  by  the  people,  whom  he  one  day  courted 
and  the  next  insulted  ;  personal  quarrels  were  fre- 
quent and  sanguinary ;  and  at  length  Conde  quitted 
the  capital,  on  the  13th  of  October,  and  threw  him- 
self into  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards.  Deep  humilia- 
tion and  despondency  succeeded  with  the  Parisians ; 
a  degree  of  agitation  which,  as  De  Retz  declares, 
might  have  been  turned  to  any  purpose,  took  posses- 
sion of  all  minds,  and  nothing  was  heard  but  petitions 
for  the  king  to  return.  At  length,  after  some  hesita- 
tion, the  court  determined  once  more  to  take  up  its 
residence  in  Paris,  and,  not  without  alarm,  the  king 
and  queen  re-entered  the  capital.  The  applause  of 
the  people,  however,  was  so  great,  that  all  fears  were 
done  away  ;  and  the  first  act  of  the  king  was  to  com- 
mand his  uncle,  the  duke  of  Orleans,  to  retire  from 
Paris  with  his  daughter.  The  step  might  be  bold  ; 
and  De  Retz  has  attempted  to  prove  that  it  was  fool- 
ish :  but  it  was  successful,  and  it  was  necessary  ;  for 
nobody  in  France  could  doubt  that,  wherever  the  duke 
of  Orleans  was,  there  would  be  faction. 

On  the  day  following  a  general  amnesty  was  pub- 
lished ;  and  the  court  applied  itself  to  conciliate  the 
favour  of  the  talented  and  factious  Gondi,  now  cardi- 
nal de  Retz,  hoping,  probably,  to  deprive  him  of  his 
authority  with  the  people  by  attaching  him  to  the 
court.  But  de  Retz  remained  intractable ;  and  at 
length  it  was  determined  to  arrest  the  demagogue, 
even  in  the  midst  of  the  populace  he  had  so  long  com- 
manded. This  resolution  was  executed,  however, 
without  any  difficulty.  The  coadjutor  was  made  a 
prisoner  at  the  Louvre,  and  remained  there  for  several 
hours,  while  the  news  of  his  arrest  spread  quickly 


190  LIFE  OF 

through  the  town  ;  but  no  tumult  or  attempt  to  rescue 
followed,  and  he  was  safely  lodged  in  Vincennes.     It 
is  very  doubtful  whether  Mazarin  took  any  share  in 
advising  the  queen  to  this  measure,  and  he  afterwards 
himself  joined  in  a  petition  for  the  liberation  of  De 
Retz ;  but  it  is  very  clear  that  no   measure  was  ever 
more  wise.     The  people  were  so  tired  of  faction,  that 
the  court  judged — and  judged  wisely — that,  deprived 
of  the  council  and  direction  of  their  great  leader,  they 
would  not  even  rise  to  give  him  liberty  ;  and  thus  an 
act  which  at  the  commencement  of  the  troubles  of  the 
Fronde  would  have  been  one  of  madness,  and  would 
certainly  have  produced  an   insurrection,  now   gave 
the  last*  blow  to  a  party  which  had  already  fallen  too 
far  to  defend  itself  any  longer.     Mazarin,  it  appeared 
to  all,  might  now  return  in  safety  ;  but,  with  wise 
caution,  he  remained  upon  the  frontiers  of  the  king- 
dom, visiting  the  different  generals  opposed  to  the 
Spaniards,    and  making   preparations   to   render    the 
efforts  of  France  against  her  enemies  more  vigorous 
and  successful  for  the  future  than  they  had  been  during 
the  civil  wars.     At  length  his  absence  began  to  sur- 
prise the  people.     No  longer  arrayed  in  opposition  to 
his  return,  they  learned  to  desire  it;  and  when  he  at 
length  did  come  back  to  the  capital,  his  entrance  was 
far  more  triumphant  in  appearance  that  even  that  of 
the  king  had  been.     The  young  monarch  aRd  all  the 
court  went  out  to  meet  him  at  the  distance  of  two 
leagues  from  Paris;  all  the  courts  and  associated  bodies 
of  the  metropolis,  even  to  the  parliament  itself,  came 
to  congratulate  him  on  his  return ;  apartments  were 
assigned  him  in  the  Louvre;  the  people  shouted  their 
gratulations  in  the  path  of  him  they  would  have  mur- 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  191 

dered  a  year  before  ;  and  the  whole  city  gave  itself  up 
to  rejoicings,  which  were  continued  far  into  the  night. 
The  coadjutor  himself  might  almost  have  heard  the 
sounds  from  his  solitary  prison  at  Vincennes.  Such 
is  popularity. 

Some  disputes  with  the  parliament,  it  is  true,  did 
succeed  ;  but  Mazarin,  taught  by  experience,  mingled 
a  degree  of  severity  with  his  gentleness,   and  suc- 
ceeded  in  preventing  any  fresh  revolt.      Provence, 
Burgundy,  and  Guyenne  returned  to  obedience;  and 
while  Turenne  maintained  the  honour  of  France  in 
the  field,  internal  union,  commerce  and   tranquillity 
began  to  re-appear  throughout  the  country.     The  first 
three  years  of  the  regency  had  been  carried  on  by 
the  force  of  Richelieu's  administration;  all  then  fell 
into  disorder  :  but,  after  the  wars  of  the  Fronde,  a 
new   impetus  was  given  to  the  government  by  the 
great  and  successful  exertions  to  which   it  had  been 
driven  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  the  reaction  which 
the  oppression  of  Richelieu  had  called   forth  amongst 
the  people  died  away,  and  left  the  path  open  to  the 
gorgeous   depotism  of  Louis  XIV.      So  completely 
had  a  change  come  over  all  the  feelings  of  the  nation, 
that   in    the  description  afforded  by  an   Italian  of  a 
splendid  fete  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  given  to  the  minis- 
ter by  the  magistrates  of  the   town,  on   the  29th   of 
March,  1653,  we  find  that  the  Place  de  Greve  was 
filled  with  the  populace,  who  received  Mazarin  with 
continued  shouts  of  applause,  called  down  benedictions 
on  his  head,   and  poured  forth  execrations  on  those 
who    had   calumniated  him.      The  minister   showed 
himself  frequently  at  the  window,  and  was  received 
with  loud  acclamations,  while   the   hotel   itself,   yet 


192  LIFE    OF 

reeking  with  the  blood  of  those  who  had  been  slain 
on  a  mere  suspicion  of  favouring  him,  and  black  with 
the  smoke  of  flames  which  his  hated  name  had  kin- 
dled, was  now  crowded  with  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  citizens  who  had  acted  many  a  blood-thirsty  part 
against  him  in  the  wars  just  past. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  Mazarin  saw 
the  continuance  of  his  favour  confirmed  by  the  mar- 
riage of  his  niece,  Anna  Maria  Martinozzi,  with  the 
prince  de  Conti,  brother  of  the  great  Conde.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  the  prince,  who  was  destitute  alike  of 
his  brother's  talents  and  his  firmness,  was  glad  to  make 
his  peace  with  the  successful  minister  whom  he  had  so 
bitterly  offended,  by  any  means  short  of  actual  degra- 
dation. He  continued,  however,  faithful  to  the  king, 
although  various  severe  measures  were  adopted  in  re- 
gard to  the  prince  de  Conde  himself,  who,  on  the  con- 
trary, remained  in  actual  rebellion.  About  the  same 
time  a  scheme  for  assassinating  the  cardinal  was  disco- 
vered, and  Conde  was  accused  of  having  bribed  the 
assassins.  Madame  de  Chatillon,  also,  was  supposed  to 
be  implicated:  but  who  it  was  that  actually  instigated 
the  villains  to  their  base  and  cowardly  design  has  never 
been  clearly  shown.  The  two  men  themselves  were 
arrested,  tried,  found  guilty  of  having  undertaken,  for 
a  price,  to  murder  the  minister,  and  were  condemned 
to  be  broken  on  the  wheel.  Mazarin  interceded  for 
their  lives,  but  was  refused ;  and  only  obtained,  as  a 
mitigation  of  their  sentence,  that  they  should  be  stran- 
gled ere  the  more  cruel  part  of  the  punishment  award- 
ed was  put  in  force. 

The  coronation  of  Louis  XIV.  took  place  soon  after, 
while  the  armies  of  the  king  kept  the  field  against  the 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  193 

Spaniards;  but  previous  to  that  ceremony,  Mazarin, 
who  had  a  peculiar  fondness  for  military  fame,  led  the 
young  monarch  to  the  siege  of  St.  Menehould,  which 
place  was  quickly  taken,  and  afterwards  accompanied 
him  to  the  attack  of  Stenai,  which  also  surrendered. 
Arras,  however,  was  in  the  mean  time  besieged  by 
Conde  and  the  Spaniards,  and  it  now  became  the  great 
object  of  the  French  generals  to  relieve  that  important 
city.  Turenne,  rather  than  sacrifice  it,  determined  to 
attack  the  enemy  in  his  lines;  and  that  famous  battle 
took  place,  which  saved  Arras  from  the  power  of  Spain. 
With  Turenne  remained  the  glory  of  the  day;  but 
Mazarin  drew  down  upon  his  head  no  small  ridicule 
by  attributing  to  himself  in  a  despatch,  written  in  the 
king's  name  to  the  parliament,  all  the  honour  of  hav- 
ing raised  the  siege  of  Arras,  without  once  mentioning 
Turenne. 

One  of  the  most  important  acts  of  Mazarin's  poli- 
tical life  was  now  about  to  follow.  Charles  I.  of  Eng- 
land was  dead.  Cromwell  swayed  the  destinies  of 
Great  Britain ;  and  Charles  II.,  an  exile  and  a  wan- 
derer, derived  a  feeble  and  inefficient  support  from 
France.  The  protector,  offended  with  France,  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  enter  into  a  league  with  Spain ; 
and  Mazarin  resolved,  at  any  price,  to  induce  Crom- 
well to  break  off  negotiations,  which,  if  successful, 
would  have  proved  ruinous  to  the  French  interests. 
The  history  of  the  whole  transaction  is  too  long  for 
detail.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  commanding  mind  of 
Cromwell  overbore  all  the  barriers  of  Mazarin's  timid 
policy.  The  French  minister  yielded  much  of  the 
dignity  of  the  crown  he  served,  suffered  the  usurper 
of  the  English   throne  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of 

VOL.   II.  17 


194  LIFE  OF 

France  respecting  the  huguenots  of  Nismes,  abandoned 
to  their  fate  the  catholics  of  England,  and  forgot  the 
rites  of  hospitality  and  the  dues  of  kindred,  which 
Charles  II.  could  claim  from  the  French  monarch ;  but 
he  gained  his  object,  detached  Cromwell  from  the  in- 
terests of  Spain,  and  secured  powerful  support  in  his 
operations  against  Flanders.     That  support  was  indeed 
the  more  necessary,  as  the  prince  de  Conde,  command- 
ing a  body  of  Spanish  troops,  still  kept  up  a  dangerous 
correspondence  with  many  persons  in  France,  and  had 
very  nearly  obtained,  through  the  mediation  of  a  coun- 
sellor in  the  parliament,  named  Chenailles,  possession 
of  the  important  town  of  St.  Quentin.     The  duchess 
of  Chatillon,  who,  during  the  preceding  year,  had  en- 
deavoured to  seduce  the  marechal  d'Hocquincourt  to 
the  interest  of  the  prince  de  Conde,  had  been  arrested 
by  order  of  the  minister;  and  he  now  proceeded  with 
still  greater  severity  against  Chenailles;  though  a  strong 
proof  of  Mazarin's  humanity  is  afforded  by  the  depo- 
sition of  one  of  the  witnesses  on  the  trial,  who  stated 
that,   when   the   minister  discovered  the  treasonable 
proceedings  of  the  prisoner,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  would 
rather  have  given  50,000  crowns  than  that  he  should 
have  fallen  into  such  an  error!"     Although  the  pro- 
ceedings were  conducted  as  in  a  case  of  high  treason, 
and  the  prisoner  was  found  guilty,  the  sentence  was 
comparatively  mild.     He  was  stripped  of  his  dignities, 
offices,  and  possessions,  and  banished  the  country. 

No  sooner  had  Mazarin  concluded  the  arrangement 
with  Cromwell,  and  left  Spain,  exhausted  as  she  was 
by  long  wars,  without  the  support  of  a  single  ally, 
than  he  applied  himself  eagerly  to  induce  that  country 
to  treat  for  a  final  peace.     Accordingly  Lionne,  one  of 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  195 

the  council,  was  sent  secretly  to  Madrid  to  demand  the 
hana  of  the  infanta  for  Louis  XIV.,  and  offer  those 
terms  by  which  the  cardinal  hoped  to  bring  the  war 
to  a  termination.  Long  negotiations  succeeded;  but 
Philip  IV.  had  then  no  male  heir,  and  the  hand  of  the 
infanta  was  sought  also  by  the  emperor  for  his  son. 
Thus  the  wishes  of  Mazarin  were  frustrated  for  the 
time,  and  the  war  with  Spain  continued.  That  war, 
however,  was  carried  on  upon  the  part  of  France  with 
great  and  decided  success.  Some  partisans  of  the 
prince  de  Conde  attempted  to  excite  revolt  in  the  pro- 
vinces, and  from  time  to  time  the  parliament  offered 
some  resistance  to  the  will  of  the  minister;  but  min- 
gling firmness  with  moderation,  Mazarin  soon  quelled 
all  internal  opposition;  and  early  in  the  year  1658  he 
led  Louis  XIV.  to  the  siege  of  Dunkirk.  Conde  and 
don  John  of  Austria  immediately  united  their  forces, 
and  advanced  to  the  relief  of  that  place,  but  were  met 
upon  the  sandhills  by  Turenne,  who,  after  a  severe  and 
long  contested  battle,  forced  them  to  retreat.  Dunkirk 
surrendered  in  a  few  days,  and  the  siege  of  Gravelines 
succeeded  ;  but  very  soon  after  the  first  of  those  places 
had  fallen,  the  king  was  taken  violently  ill  at  Calais, 
and  for  some  days  great  apprehensions  were  enter- 
tained for  his  life. 

Intrigues  of  course  immediately  took  place;  and 
Mazarin,  it  would  appear,  wisely  determined,  in  case 
of  the  king's  death,  to  quit  France  at  once,  and  retire 
to  Rome.  The  monarch,  however,  recovered;  and 
several  of  those  who,  during  his  illness,  had  shown 
their  purposes  against  Mazarin  too  clearly,  were  driven 
into  exile  by  the  minister.  He  had  now  gained  the 
ascendency  over  the  mind  of  the  young  king  more 


196  LIFE  OF 

completely  than  he  had  formerly  done  in  regard  to 
Anne  of  Austria;  and  he  is  accused  of  showing  some 
degree  of  neglect  towards  his  former  benefactress, 
which  madame  de  Motteville  attributes  to  the  hesita- 
tion that  the  queen  had  shown  in  recalling  him  about 
the  time  of  his  march  to  Poitiers. 

While  these  events  wrere  passing  in  France  and  on 
the  frontiers  of  Flanders,  two  changes  had  taken  place 
affecting  Mazarin's  views  in  regard  to  Spain.     In  1657 
the  emperor  had  died;  and  the  cardinal  instantly  sent 
ambassadors  to  Germany,  in  order  to  obtain  the  impe- 
rial dignity  for  the  elector  of  Bavaria,  and  thus  strike 
another  stroke  at  the  house  of  Austria.     In  this  he 
was  not  successful ;  and  the  electors  placed  the  crown 
on  the  head  of  Leopold,  son  of  the  last  emperor;  but 
events  had  occurred  in  Spain,  of  a  kind  more  favoura- 
ble to  his  views.     Philip  IV.  had  married  again,  and 
a  male  heir  had  diminished  the  importance  attached  to 
the  hand  of  the  infanta  in  her  father's  eyes,  though 
not  in  the  eyes  of  Mazarin.     To  conclude  the  war  as 
soon  as  possible,  if  it  could  be  done  upon  advantageous 
terms,  was  now  the  great  object  of  Mazarin,  who, 
though  he  had  sustained  Richelieu's  external  policy 
with  firmness  and  success,  and  had  reaped  in  the  peace 
of  Westphalia  rich  fruit  from  the  seed  which  his  bold 
predecessor  had  sown,  was  naturally  of  a  pacific  dis- 
position, and  had  brought  to  the  French  cabinet  that 
Italian  spirit  of  negotiation  which  was  so  well  calcu- 
lated to  conclude  what  it  had  required  a  more  power- 
ful mind  to  commence.     Instead,  however,  of  once 
more  directly  appealing  to  the  court  of  Spain,  now 
humbled  by  repeated  losses,  Mazarin  affected  to  listen 
to  proposals  which  had  been  made  regarding  the  mar- 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  197 

riage  of  the  young  king  with  the  princess  Marguerite 
of  Savoy;  and  for  the  purpose  of  giving  public  testi- 
mony of  his  desire  to  conclude  that  alliance,  he  led  the 
court  to  Lyons,  in  order  to  meet  the  duchess  of  Savoy 
and  her  daughter. 

In  promoting  the  marriage  of  Louis  with  either  the 
infanta  or  the  princess  Marguerite,  Mazarin  made  a 
noble  and  a  prudent  sacrifice  to  honour  and  good 
policy.  The  young  monarch,  after  his  return  to 
Paris,  had  been  frequently  thrown  in  company  with 
mademoiselle  de  Mancini,  the  cardinal's  niece,  and 
showed  so  decided  a  preference  for  her  that  the  queen 
and  the  court  became  alarmed.  He  sought  her  on  all 
occasions;  and  though  her  personal  attractions  were 
but  few,  yet  he  seemed  never  content  but  in  her  so- 
ciety. She,  on  her  part,  eager  and  passionate  by 
nature,  did  not  scruple  to  show  her  attachment  to  the 
young  monarch  ;  and  as  no  one  suspected  her  of  over- 
stepping the  bounds  of  virtue,  it  was  not  by  any  means 
impossible  that  Louis  might  be  induced  to  raise  her  to 
share  his  throne.  Mazarin  had  far  more  power  over 
him  than  his  mother:  the  princess  of  Savoy  was  ex- 
tremely ugly:  very  slight  impediments  would  have 
prevented  any  renewal  of  the  negotiations  with  Spain; 
and  if  Louis  XIV.  ever  felt  through  life  the  slightest 
portion  of  true  love  for  any  being  on  earth  but  himself, 
it  was  for  mademoiselle  Mancini. 

Happily,  however,  for  Mazarin,  what  was  most  wise 
and  what  was  most  honourable,  in  this  instance,  went 
hand  in  hand.  Without  apparently  yielding  a  thought 
to  the  more  ambitious  course,  he  led  the  French  court, 
as  I  have  said,  to  Lyons,  on  the  23d  of  October,*  where 

*  1658. 

17* 


198  LIFE  OF 

it  was  joined  shortly  after  by  that  of  Savoy.  Mazarin's 
views,  however,  were  soon  explained  to  the  duchess  of 
Savoy;  and  as  she  could  not  deny  that  every  principle 
of  good  policy  required  the  French  minister  to  prefer 
the  infanta  to  her  daughter,  she  contented  herself  with 
claiming  consideration  in  case  the  cardinal  should  not 
be  successful  in  his  purposes  regarding  Spain.     But 
the  first  part  of  Mazarin's  plan  was  already  perfectly 
successful.     The  rumours,  which  he  had  caused  to  be 
spread  of  an  approaching  marriage  between  the  young 
king  and  the  princess  of  Savoy  had  reached  Madrid 
and  alarmed  the  ministers  of  Spain.     An  envoy  from 
Philip    was   already   on    his  way   to    renew  negotia- 
tions, when  Louis  reached  Lyons;  and  in  a  few  days 
after  he  appeared,  bearing  an  offer  of  the  hand  of  the 
infanta.     The  French  court,  having  gained  this  object, 
returned   immediately   to  Paris,    and   a   preliminary 
treaty  of  peace  was  at  once  concluded.     The  greatest 
difficulties,  in  regard  to  these  arrangements,  had  arisen 
from  the  situation  of  the  prince  de  Conde,  then  actually 
serving  Spain  against  his  country.     The  Spanish  am- 
bassador, of  course,  sought  to  obtain  favourable  terms 
for  the  prince;  but  Mazarin  held  out  sternly  against 
one  whom  he  justly  considered  a  rebel,  though  a  noble 
one.      Conde,    however,    generously   determined   to 
prove  no  obstacle  to  the  re-establishment  of  peace;  and 
wrote  to  the  Spanish  ambassador  to  abandon  his  in- 
terests rather  than  allow  so  laudable  an  endeavour  as 
that  of  restoring  tranquillity  to  Europe  to  be  frustrated.* 

•  It  is  not  very  clearly  ascertained  whether  this  letter  was 
written  during1  the  conferences  in  Paris,  or  those  which  took 
place  afterwards  on  the  frontier  between  don  Louis  de  Haro  and 
Mazarin. 


\ 

CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  199 

Neither  Mazarin  nor  the  ambassador  suffered  this  letter 
to  prove  greatly  injurious  to  Conde;  but  it  facilitated 
the  negotiation;  and  as  soon  as  the  preliminary  treaty 
was  signed,  the  cardinal  commanded  the  French  armies 
to  pause  in  their  career  of  success.  For  doing  so,  ere 
the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  was  ratified,  he  has  been 
greatly  blamed;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  did  thereby 
lose  several  advantages  in  the  conferences  which  he 
afterwards  held  with  the  Spanish  minister,  don  Louis 
de  Haro.  For  the  purpose  of  entering  into  these  con- 
ferences, Mazarin  set  out  from  Paris  on  the  26th  of 
June:  but  before  he  did  so,  two  of  the  most  mortifying 
events  which  he  had  yet  met  with  occurred  to  him; 
and  his  conduct  in  either  circumstance  shows  his  cha- 
racter in  a  noble  and  interesting  point  of  view. 

During  the  holy  week  of  the  year  1659,  a  large 
party  of  libertine  young  men  set  out  for  the  chateau  of 
Roissi,  determined  to  outrage  all  the  feelings  of  their 
severer  brethren,  by  dedicating  to  debauchery  and 
impiety  a  period  particularly  set  apart  by  the  Roman 
catholic  religion  as  a  time  of  mortification  and  prayer. 
At  the  head  of  these,  trusting  to  his  uncle's  power  and 
favour,  was  Mancini,  the  nephew  of  Mazarin;  but  the 
scandal  of  these  proceedings  soon  reached  the  court, 
and  the  conduct  of  the  cardinal  was  very  different 
from  that  which  had  been  expected.  From  amongst 
the  whole  he  selected  his  nephew  as  an  example;  and 
leaving  the  rest  to  be  reprimanded  by  the  king,  he 
banished  Mancini  from  the  court,  refusing  to  hear  any 
supplications  in  his  favour.  The  passionate  attachment 
of  the  young  king  to  his  niece,  Maria  de  Mancini,  was 
also  at  this  time  a  subject  of  great  uneasiness  to  the 
minister.     Negotiations  were  far  advanced  regarding 


200  LIFE  OF 

the  king's  marriage  with  the  infanta.  The  queen-mo- 
ther abhorred  mademoiselle  de  Mancini,  on  account  of 
the  mutual  love  existing  between  her  and  Louis  XIV.; 
and  yet  the  monarch,  after  his  return  from  Lyons,  dis- 
played more  and  more  his  attachment  to  the  young 
Italian.  Mazarin  determined  to  withdraw  her  from 
the  court,  and  Louis,  in  a  moment  of  passion,  proposed 
to  his  minister  to  raise  her  to  the  throne.  Mazarin, 
however,  had  by  this  time  chosen  his  part;  and  we 
have  the  authority  of  one  not  too  favourable  to  that 
minister  (mad.  de  Motteville)  for  saying  that  he  acted 
with  a  firmness,  a  dignity,  and  a  disinterestedness  more 
honourable  to  the  man  than  his  most  skilful  measures 
were  to  the  minister.  He  replied  to  the  king's  pro- 
posal, that  he  had  been  chosen  by  the  monarch's  father, 
and  afterwards  by  his  mother,  to  aid  him  with  his  best 
councils;  that  up  to  that  time  he  had  served  him  with 
inviolable  fidelity,  and  that  he  should  take  care  not  to 
abuse  the  confidence  placed  in  him  by  the  king's  con- 
fession of  such  a  weakness,  nor  to  misuse  the  power 
which  Louis  gave  him  in  his  territories  by  suffering  a 
thing  to  be  done  so  contrary  to  his  sovereign's  interest 
and  honour.  The  king  was  his  own  master,  he  added, 
but  he  himself  had  a  right  to  dispose  of  his  niece;  and 
he  would  rather  stab  her  with  his  own  hand  than  raise 
her  to  the  throne  by  the  betrayal  of  his  trust. 

This  conference  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
exile  of  Maria  Mancini  from  the  court;  and  though, 
doubtless,  good  policy  required  Mazarin  to  act  as  he 
did  act,  yet  happy  is  the  man  who,  in  situations  of 
difficulty  and  temptation,  has  both  the  wisdom  to  see 
that  good  policy  and  a  high  sense  of  honour  are  united, 
and  the  firmness  to  tread  the  giddy  precipice  of  power 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  201 

without  stumbling  over  some  of  those  small  but  fatal 
irregularities  which  selfishness  strews  thickly  in  the 
path  of  ambition. 

After  the  removal  of  his  niece  from  the  CGurt  of 
France,  Mazarin  set  out  to  enter  into  those  important 
negotiations  which  ended  in  a  peace,*  that  all  the  di- 
plomatic skill  of  the  agents  employed  at  Munster  and 
Osnabruck  had  not  been  able  to  effect.  Since  the  treaty 
of  Westphalia,  Spain  had  continued  the  war  against 
France  and  Holland  unsupported  by  any  other  power, 
and  now  treated  with  her  principal  opponent  under  the 
disadvantage  of  exhausted  finances  and  defeated  armies. 
But  still  the  persevering  arrogance  of  the  court  of  Philip 
rendered  her  demands  as  extreme,  and  her  obstinacy  as 
insurmountable  by  any  ordinary  means,  as  if  she  had 
been  at  that  moment  in  the  height  of  prosperity.  No 
man,  however,  was  better  calculated  than  Mazarin  to 
encounter  the  difficulties  of  such  a  negotiation.  Patient, 
placable,  and  sincerely  desirous  of  terminating,  in  a 
solid  peace,  the  war  which  he  had  carried  on  success- 
fully during  his  whole  administration,  he  was  neither 
to  be  irritated  by  the  pride  of  Spain,  nor  wearie*  out 
by  her  delays.  At  the  same  time  his  keen  sagacity 
and  subtle  activity  were  the  best  arms  that  could  be 
used  against  the  high  pretensions  of  the  Spanish 
minister,  and  the  tedious  and  dilatory  proceedings 
of  a  pompous  court.  Don  Louis  de  Haro,  prime 
minister  of  Spain,  advanced  to  the  frontiers  of  his 
country,  while  Mazarin,  on  his  part,  proceeded  to 
St.  Jean  de  Luz;  and  a  temporary  building  having 
been  erected  on  a  small  island  in  the  midst  of  the 
Bidassoa,  the  conferences  were  there  opened  and  con- 
tinued for  several  months. 

*  June  26, 1659. 


202  LIFE  OF 

Many  difficulties  arose  which  it  would  be  tedious 
to  dwell  upon  in  this  place;  but  at  length  all  points 
of  import  were  sufficiently  determined  to  justify  the 
court  of  France  in  approaching  the  place  of  conference. 
The  prince  of  Conde  also  returned  to  his  native  land 
after  an  absence  of  several  years  ;  but  the  death  of 
the  second  son  of  the  king  of  Spain,  by  bringing  the 
infanta  nearer  to  the  crown,  caused  some  apprehension 
lest  the  treaty  of  marriage  should  be  broken  off.  Upon 
that  alliance  were  fixed  the  hopes  and  expectations  of 
Mazarin  ;  for  he  had  long  before  perceived,  that  the 
succession  to  the  Spanish  throne  might  probably  ere 
long  fall  to  the  lot  of  the  infanta  :  that,  under  such 
circumstances,  no  renunciation  of  contingent  rights, 
on  her  part,  would  be  of  any  importance  ;*  and,  there- 
fore, that  by  a  marriage  between  herself  and  Louis 
XIV.  the  consummation  of  Richelieu's  policy  would 
be  fully  effected.  He  had  clearly  announced  his 
views  upon  this  subject  so  long  before  as  the  signature 
of  the  peace  of  Munster,  and  he  had  never  ceased  to 
labour  for  the  same  object.  Various  causes  contributed 
to  procrastinate  the  negotiations ;  and  though  the 
promise  of  the  infanta's  hand  was  not  withdrawn 
on  the  death  of  her  brother,  Mazarin  found  himself 
obliged  to  make  some  farther  concessions  than  he  had 
at  first  intended. 

*  One  of  his  letters  to  the  French  plenipotentiaries  at  Munster 
in  1645  shows  that  he  had  considered  all  the  results  of  this  mar- 
riage fifteen  years  before  it  took  place  ;  and  that  Spain  also  con- 
sidered the  renunciation  of  the  contingent  rights  of  the  infanta 
in  the  same  light  as  the  French  minister,  is  proved  by  the  words 
of  Philip  IV.,  when  the  act  of  renunciation  was  read  to  him.  "Esto 
es  una  patarata,"  he  said;  "y  si  faltasse  el  principe  de  derecho 
mi  hija  ha  de  heredar." 


CARDINAL  MAZARItf.  203 

The  French  court  in  the  mean  time,  remained 
during  the  winter  in  Provence;  but  all  things  being 
at  length  arranged  for  a  meeting  between  the  royal 
families  of  France  and  Spain,  and  for  the  marriage  of 
the  young  king  with  the  infanta,  Philip  on  his  side 
advanced  to  Fontarabia,  while  Louis  proceeded  to  St. 
Jean  de  Luz.  Some  points  which  had  been  left  un- 
settled concerning  the  exact  frontier  line  of  the  two 
kingdoms  were  now  arranged,  and,  by  the  skill  of 
Mazarin,  rendered  favourable  to  France.  The  mar- 
riage took  place  ,*  and  the  famous  peace  of  the  Pyre- 
nees was  sworn  to  by  the  two  monarchs  in  each 
other's  presence.  This  negotiation,  which  ultimately 
seated  the  Bourbons  upon  the  throne  of  Spain,  is  the 
most  celebrated  act  of  Mazarin's  political  life,  although 
the  enemies  of  that  minister  founded  upon  it  «an  ac- 
cusation of  weakness  and  bad  policy,  which  only 
showed  their  own  want  of  skill  and  diplomatic  know- 
ledge. Setting  aside,  however,  their  objections,  which 
are  scarcely  relevant,  and  not  even  inquiring  whether 
the  success  of  Mazarin's  most  ardent  wishes  have  not 
ultimately,  by  accidental  circumstances,  proved  more 
detrimental  than  beneficial  to  the  country  he  wished 
to  serve,  there  is  another  point  of  view  under  which 
his  conduct  may  be  regarded.  No  man  saw  more 
clearly  that  it  had  been  absolutely  necessary  for  all 
the  states  in  Europe  to  unite  for  the  purpose  of  hum- 
bling the  house  of  Austria  ;  no  one  knew  better  that 
that  sovereign  house  had  extended  its  dominion  too 
far  for  its  own  security  ;  and  yet  the  grand  object 
which  he  proposed  to  himself  in  his  treaty  of  the 
Pyrenees  was  to  place  the  house  of  Bourbon  very 
nearly  in  the  same  position  which  had  been  filled  by 


204  LIFE  OF 

the  house  of  Austria.  His  object  was  a  mistaken  one: 
to  humble  the  house  of  Austria,  to  guard  against  its 
ever  again  attaining  inordinate  power,  was  wise ; 
perhaps  to  extend  the  territories  of  France  on  the  side 
of  Flanders,  and  to  incorporate  Franche  Comte  and 
Lorraine  with  the  dominions  which  his  sovereign 
already  possessed,  was  prudent  and  politic  ;  but  the 
seating  a  Bourbon  race  upon  the  throne  of  Spain  was 
the  greatest  mistake  committed  in  the  'policy  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

After  the  marriage  had  taken  place,  the  court  re- 
turned by  slow  journeys  to  Fontainebleau,  where  the 
young  king  and  his  bride  remained,  while  Mazarin 
and  the  queen-mother  proceeded  to  Paris,  to  cause 
preparations  for  the  public  entrance  of  the  two  sove- 
reigns. On  the  minister's  arrival,  all  the  great  bodies 
of  the  capital  waited  upon  him,  to  compliment  him 
on  his  return,  and  to  express  their  admiration  of  his 
conduct  in  the  difficult  negotiations  which  had  re- 
stored peace  to  Europe.  The  parliament  itself  sent 
a  deputation  of  its  most  distinguished  members  to 
honour  and  congratulate  the  minister,  on  whose  head, 
not  long  before,  they  had  set  a  price ;  and  rejoicings 
of  every  kind  welcomed  him  to  the  capital,  as  the 
great  benefactor  of  the  country  which  had  adopted 
him.  In  reply  to  the  various  addresses  which  he  re- 
ceived, Mazarin  spoke  long  and  eloquently  ;  but  his 
health  was  already  giving  way  under  the  wearing  in- 
fluence of  cares  and  exertions.  A  fit  of  the  gout 
succeeded  ;  and  we  are  told  that  unskilful  treatment 
repelled  the  disease  from  his  extremities,  and  endan- 
gered his  life.  The  young  king,  who  had  by  this 
time  removed  from  Fontainebleau  to  Vincennes,  hear- 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  205 

ing  of  his  situation,  came  privately  to  Paris  to  visit 
him,  and  ask  his  advice  concerning  some  proceed- 
ings of  the  court ;  but  Mazarin  was,  at  the  moment 
of  his  arrival,  suffering  an  aggravation  of  his  former 
pains,  by  an  attack  of  the  stone,  and  his  mind,  for  a 
time,  gave  way  under  the  agony  he  endured.  "  Sire," 
he  replied  to  the  king,  "  you  come  to  ask  the  advice 
of  a  man  who  has  lost  the  command  of  his  reason. 
Sir,  my  mind  wanders  !"  On  this  reply,  the  king 
is  said  to  have  retired  into  a  neighbouring  corridor, 
and  wept  over  the  prostration  of  that  intellect  which 
he  had  learned  to  revere  in  his  earliest  youth. 

Mazarin,  however,  recovered,  and  endeavoured  to 
cover  the  decay  of  his  frame  by  the  external  splen- 
dour of  his  appearance.     In  the  beginning  of  Septem- 
ber, 1660,  the  king  and  queen  made  their  public  entry 
into  Paris,  with  all  that  theatrical  pomp  and  splendour 
which  suited  the  character  of  the  times,  the  monarch, 
and  the  nation.    The  household  of  Mazarin,  however, 
which  figured  in  the  procession,  was  scarcely  inferior 
in  magnificence  to  that  of  the  king.     We  are  told  that 
it  took  an  hour  in  passing  the  gates,  and  that  the  at- 
tendants of  the  monarch's  brother  seemed  pitiful  when 
compared  with  those  of  the  minister.     But  his  power 
and  his  splendour  were  now  drawing  to  their  close. 
During   the   autumn   he   became   worse   in    point  of 
health,   and   seldom   left   his   apartments,   where  the 
meetings  of  the  council  of  state  were  regularly  attend- 
ed by  the  young  king.     A  slight  amelioration  took 
place  in  the  month  of  February,  1661,  and  the  dying 
minister  followed  the  court  to  Vincennes;  but  there 
his  illness  increased  ;  symptoms  of  water  in  the  chest 
succeeded  ;  and  on  the  9th  of  March,  meeting  deatfy 
VOL.  II.  18 


206  LIFE  OP 

with  unshrinking  firmness,  Mazarin  rested  for  ever 
from  the  toils  of  state. 

We  are  told,  on  sufficient  authority,  that  during 
the  last  days  of  his  life  Mazarin  endeavoured  eagerly 
to  persuade  the  king  to  retain  in  his  service  Le  Tellier, 
Lionne,  and  Colbert  :  the  first  had  shown  himself  not 
incapable  of  sincere  attachment,  and  was  an  active, 
clear-sighted,  intelligent  man  of  business  ;  the  second 
has  been  suspected  of  being  both  less  faithful  and  less 
talented ;  the  third  was  the  greatest  and  most  patriotic 
statesman  that  France  has  ever  known.  But  at  the 
same  time  that  the  minister  endeavoured  to  secure  the 
fortune  of  those  whom  he  had  trained  in  the  ways  of 
policy,  he  gave  his  sovereign  the  singular,  the  wise, 
and  the  prophetic  advice  to  dispense,  for  the  future, 
with  the  services  of  a  prime  minister,  and  to  govern 
his  kingdom  for  himself. 

Such  were  some  of  the  cares  which  agitated  Ma- 
zarin upon  his  deathbed  ;  but  there  were  others  of 
a  more  private  nature  which  did  not  affect  him  less. 
The  means  which  he  had  taken  to  accumulate,  in 
a  few  years,  the  immense  fortune  which  he  left,  in 
dying  disturbed  his  conscience;  and  as  the  king,  if 
any  one,  was  the  person  who  had  suffered,  Mazarin, 
to  quiet  his  own  mind,  made  a  voluntary  donation  of 
all  that  he  possessed  to  the  monarch  a  few  days  before 
his  death.  Louis,  as  a  matter  of  course,  restored  to 
him  his  property,  giving  him  permission  to  dispose  of 
it  as  he  pleased;  and  the  minister,  completely  satisfied 
by  this  piece  of  acting,  divided  his  enormous  wealth 
amongst  his  relations.  In  regard  to  the  amount  which 
he  thus  left  much  doubt  exists  ;  but  it  is  clear  that  to 
one  of  his  nieces  alone,  he  left  28,000,000  livres. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  207 

Although  it  is  probable  that  Louis  began  to  grow 
weary  of  the  domination  of  Mazarin,  yet  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  he  did  not  sincerely  regret  him. 
No  one  at  the  court  even  affected  to  do  so,  except  the 
king;  but  that  young  monarch  went  into  mourning  on 
his  death,  expressed  deep  grief,  and  confirmed  all  the 
appointments  which  he  had  made  ere  he  died.  In 
Notre  Dame,  a  magnificent  funeral  service  was  cele- 
brated, by  the  king's  order,  in  memory  of  Mazarin; 
and,  at  his  own  desire,  his  heart  was  sent  to  the  church 
of  the  Theatins, — an  order  which  he  first  introduced 
into  France,  while  his  ashes  were  deposited  in  the 
chapel  of  the  college  he  himself  had  founded.  All 
his  personal  requests  Louis  attended  to  with  scrupulous 
care;  and  through  life  he  honoured  the  memory  of  his 
minister,  by  punishing  or  neglecting  those  who  ven- 
tured to  speak  against  him.  "  There  is  a  great  diver- 
sity of  opinions  respecting  cardinal  Mazarin,"  says  M. 
Dipping.  "Some  historians  have  regarded  him  as  a 
statesman  of  the  first  order;  others  have  seen  in  him 
nothing  but  a  contemptible  personage  and  a  minister 
often  incompetent  and  always  feeble.  One  must  allow 
that,  putting  aside  the  degree  of  exaggeration  displayed 
in  this  last  opinion,  his  conduct  in  different  circum- 
stances justifies  the  most  opposite  judgments. "  I  can- 
not exactly  agree  with  monsieur  Dipping  in  his  con- 
clusion. That  all  men  have  weak  points  in  their 
character,  and  that  those  weak  points  will  lead  them 
sometimes  to  act  in  opposition  to  the  impulses  of  their 
higher  qualities,  there  can  be  no  doubt;  but  it  does  not 
seem  to  me  that  Mazarin  displayed  more  of  these  con- 
tradictions than  any  other  statesman,  or  any  other 


208  life  or 

man,  would  have  done  in  circumstances  of  great  dif- 
ficulty. 

Very  simple  causes  seem  to  have  produced  all  the 
defects  in  his  policy,  especially  those  defects  which 
encouraged  and  protracted  the  civil  war.     He  was  na- 
turally timid ;  and  at  his  entrance  into  power  he  was 
utterly  ignorant  of  the  laws,  customs,  and  character  of 
the  French  people.     This  ignorance  led  him  continu- 
ally into  difficulties  which  he  had  not  foreseen,  while 
his  timidity  prevented  him  from  crushing  the  opposi- 
tion which  he  thus  created,  as  Richelieu  would  have 
done  under  similar  circumstances.     The  queen-mother, 
though  less  ignorant  in  regard  to  the  country  in  which 
she  had  lived  so  long,  was  not  competent  to  correct 
the  errors  of  her  minister;  and  Emery,  whom  Maza- 
rin  first  employed  in  that  most  delicate  branch  of  ad- 
ministration, the  finances,  was  even  less  acquainted 
with  the  genius  and  rights  of  the  people  than  the  car- 
dinal himself,  and  did  everything  that  could  be  done 
to  shock  the  prejudices,  and  draw  down  the  wrath  of 
the  French  nation.     Mazarin,  one  of  the  most  pene- 
trating and  sagacious  of  men,  comprehended  in  a  mo- 
ment the  characters  of  the  individuals  with  whom  he 
had  to  deal;  delected  them  under  all  shapes,  and  pene- 
trated all  disguises:  he  saw,  with  unerring  skill,  the 
embryo  of  great  genius  in  the   mind  of  youth,  long 
before  it  was  apparent  to  others;  he  even  understood 
as  thoroughly,  perhaps,  as  ever  man  did  that  strange 
and  complex  thing,  human  nature;  but  he  did  not  un- 
derstand or  appreciate,  especiall}7  at  first,  the  peculiar 
modification  of  human  nature  which  distinguishes  the 
inhabitants  of  France.     The  Spaniards  he  knew  well; 
and,  when  occasion  served,  played  upon  them  as  an 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  209 

instrument,  and  made  them  sound  what  stop  he  pleased. 
To  deal  with  the  Germans  he  found  more  difficult;  but, 
with  regard  to  them,  he  was  placed  in  a  commanding 
position,  which  enabled  him  as  far  to  dictate  terms  as 
his  natural  moderation  permitted.  With  the  French 
it  was  very  different.  He  was  placed  in  a  most  dif- 
ficult situation,  as  the  successor  of  a  minister  of  far 
greater  powers  of  mind,  of  far  more  intimate  know- 
ledge of  the  people,  of  a  determined  and  ruthless  cha- 
racter, and  of  sagacity  no  way  inferior  to  his  own. 
Richelieu  had  ridden  the  French  people  as  a  fiery 
charger,  with  a  heavy  curb  and  a  strong  hand;  but, 
when  he  was  dead,  the  nation  found  the  curb  gone,  the 
hand  tender,  the  rider  ignorant  of  the  charger's  met- 
tle, and  ran  away  amidst  precipices  equally  dangerous 
to  all.  Mazarin's  ignorance  of  the  national  character 
of  the  people  he  had  to  govern,  his  ignorance  even  of 
the  very  laws  by  which  he  was  to  rule,  a  large  legacy 
of  difficulties  left  him  by  his  predecessor,  and  a  cha- 
racter originally  timid  and  yielding,  appear  to  me  to 
have  caused  all  the  errors  of  his  administration;  while 
his  keen  sagacity,  his  diplomatic  subtlety,  his  indefa- 
tigable activity,  his  close  powers  of  application,  and 
his  persevering  constancy,  obtained  for  France,  and 
for  himself,  those  immense  advantages  which  far  more 
than  counterbalanced  the  evil  consequences  of  his 
faults. 

That  he  divined  Louis  XIV.,*  that  he  trained  Col- 
bert, that  he  detected  and  overcame  De  Retz,  may  well 
be  received  as  proofs  of  his  penetration,  his  sagacity, 

*  He  was  accustomed  to  say  that  there  was  enough  in  Louis  to 
make  four  kings  and  one  honest  man. 

18* 


210  LIFE  OF 

and  his  political  skill.  That  he  carried  on  successfully 
the  vast  designs  of  Richelieu,  that  he  maintained  the 
honour  of  France  in  the  field,  and  that  he  closed  one 
of  the  most  memorable  wars  in  history  by  two  treaties 
in  the  highest  degree  advantageous  to  the  country  he 
was  called  to  govern,  will  always  place  his  name  high 
amongst  the  statesmen  of  modern  Europe.  That  he 
passed  through  a  fierce  civil  war  without  shedding  one 
drop  of  blood  upon  the  scaffold,  although  the  hatred  of 
faction  was  directed  personally  against  himself,  that  he 
was  always  the  advocate  of  peace  where  it  was  com- 
patible with  honour,  that  he  never  raised  his  voice  but 
to  mitigate  punishment  or  to  allay  animosity,  may  be 
told  to  the  honour  of  his  heart.  His  severity  towards 
his  nephew,  his  firmness  in  regard  to  his  niece,  dis- 
play that  best  kind  of  political  wisdom,  which  com- 
bines virtue  and  prudence;  and  that,  after  having  been 
hated  and  despised  by  the  French  nation,  he  rendered 
himself  loved  and  admired,  must  have  proceeded  from 
high  qualities  of  his  own,  as  well  as  from  the  leyity 
of  the  people. 

Thus  far  all  is  fair;  but  Mazarin  was  not,  by  any 
means,  without  great  defects.  He  was  avaricious  to 
an  extraordinary  degree,  and  but  little  scrupulous  in 
regard  to  the  means  of  increasing  his  wealth;  he  was 
subtle  and  deceitful  even  to  his  best  friends,  mean  in 
his  condescension  to  those  he  feared,  and  occasionally 
overbearing  and  insolent  to  those  who  opposed  him. 
As  superintendent  of  the  young  king's  education,  he 
shamefully  neglected  his  duty;  and  by  so  doing  drew 
upon  himself  a  charge  which,  perhaps,  was  just,  of  de- 
siring to  keep  the  monarch  in  ignorance,  in  order  that 
his  own  power  might  be  of  longer  duration.     I  do  not 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  211 

find  any  instances  of  gratitude  recorded  in  his  favour; 
and  to  the  queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  he  was  certainly 
ungrateful.  In  early  life  he  was  modest  and  unassum- 
ing; but  years  and  success,  which  gave  him  firmness 
and  dignity,  rendered  him  also  ostentatious  and  vain- 
glorious in  the  most  extravagant  degree. 

He  first  introduced  at  the  court  of  France  the  pas- 
sion for  gaming  which  had  long  been  common  in  Italy; 
and  he  thus  destroyed  his  own  health,  ruined  and  de- 
graded the  French  nobility,  and  did  much  to  demora- 
lise the  whole  people.*  After  long  days  of  fatigue, 
anxiety,  and  exertion  of  mind,  he  would  pass  great 
part  of  the  night  at  the  gaming  table,  employing  over 
his  cards,  with  even  less  honesty  than  in  his  negotia- 
tions, the  same  subtle  spirit  which  animated  his  whole 
policy.  Others,  however,  we  are  told,  might  cheat 
him  also  with  impunity,  provided  they  did  so  with 
such  address  as  either  to  conceal  the  deceit,  or  win  his 
admiration  of  the  cunning.  He  has  been  accused  of 
personal  cowardice;  and  that  he  evinced  a  degree  of 
fear  on  more  than  one  occasion  is  undoubted:  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  in  various  circumstances  of  great  dan- 
ger, he  showed  not  only  perfect  coolness,  but  great 
presence  of  mind.  At  Casal  he  displayed  neither  fear 
nor  hesitation,  though  both  the  armies  were  firing  upon 
each  other  when  he  passed  between  them ;  and  in 
many  other  instances  in  the  field  he  exposed  himself 
unnecessarily  to  imminent  danger.     At  the  same  time 

*  So  deeply  was  the  young"  monarch  himself  infected  with  this 
vice,  that,  even  in  the  boat  which  conveyed  him  and  his  bride 
from  Langdon  to  Bordeaux,  he  could  not  refrain  from  play;  and 
one  of  the  courtiers  (an  abbe)  lost  50,000  crowns  ere  the  party 
broke  up. 


212  LIFE  OP 

we  must  remark,  that  the  only  occasion  on  which  he 
gave  signs  of  personal  terror  occurred  during  the  tu- 
mults in  Paris;  and  even  the  great  Conde  acknow- 
ledged that  he  was  himself  the  greatest  coward  on 
earth  in  such  warfares,  on  which  he  bestowed  a  witty 
but  somewhat  dirty  epithet.  The  faults  of  omission 
in  a  man  of  immense  power  nearly  rise  into  the  enor- 
mity of  crimes:  and  when  we  say  that,  during  many 
years  of  tranquillity  and  unbounded  authority,  Maza- 
rin  founded  no  great  institution;  led  the  way  to  no 
important  improvement,  either  in  the  government  ar- 
rangements or  the  state  of  society,  and  introduced  into 
France  nothing  but  the  Opera;  that  he  suffered  the 
finances  of  the  state  to  fall  into  terrible  decay,  and  left 
the  talents  which  he  knew  Louis  XIV.  to  possess  un- 
cultivated, and  very  nearly  undirected  ;*  we  accuse 
him  of  more  serious  errors  than  any  that  he  committed 
during  the  wars  of  the  Fronde. 

In  private  life,  his  character  has  been  very  variously 
represented:  to  those  whom  he  did  not  seek  to 
please,  he  was,  we  are  told  by  madame  de  Motteville, 
dry,  cross,  and  petulant,  affecting  more  humility  in 
adverse  than  in  prosperous  times.  He  was  fond  of 
raillery,  and  sometimes  indulged  in  it  too  far;  he  had 
naturally  considerable  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  and  was  a 
discerning  and  liberal  friend  to  science  and  literature; 
nor,  probably,  was  his  patronage  of  literature  at  all 

*  Mazarin,  though  superintendent  of  the  king's  education,  left 
him,  as  before  observed,  miserably  destitute  of  knowledge;  but 
towards  his  death  he  became  sensible  of  his  error,  and,  in  his 
letters  to  the  monarch  during  the  negotiation  for  peace  with 
Spain,  gave  him  the  most  profound  lessons  in  the  arts  of  diplo- 
macy that  any  one  then  living  could  furnish.  He  also  endeavoured 
to  improve  the  finances,  and  succeeded  in  a  degree. 


CARDINAL  MAZARIN.  213 

directed  to  secure  praise  to  himself;  for,  although  he 
was  by  no  means  without  personal  vanity,  he  seems  to 
have  been  perfectly  callous  to  all  the  satires*  that  were 
written  against  him,  and  very  little  obliged  to  those 
who  took  the  trouble  of  defending  him.  In  person  he 
was  remarkably  handsome,  with  a  peculiarly  fine  fore- 
head and  eyes;  he  was  active  and  dexterous  at  various 
exercises,  and  skilful  at  all  games.  To  those  he  sought 
to  please,  his  manner  was  most  captivating;  and,  though 
he  always  spoke  French  with  a  foreign  accent,  he  was 
nevertheless  eloquent,  witty,  and  adroit  in  using  that 
tongue.  No  one  told  a  story,  or  wrote  a  letter,  better 
than  Mazarin  ;  and  madame  de  Motteville,  though  she 
loved  him  not,  acknowledged  that  he  was  "  the  most 
agreeable  man  in  the  world. "t  During  his  life,  and 
after  his  death,  his  character  and  policy  were  subjected 
to  the  strictures  of  many;  and,  though  generally  lauded 
by  the  rest  of  Europe,  were  blamed  and  scoffed  at  in 

*  He  deprived  Scarron  of  his  pension  for  having"  written  the 
Mazarinade;  but  as  he  never  attempted  to  punish  any  one  else 
for  much  more  atrocious  libels,  it  was  probably  the  ingratitude  of 
the  poet  at  which  he  struck  this  blow,  and  not  his  insolence.  The 
queen,  Anne  of  Austria,  was  not  so  forgiving,  and  many  of  the 
satires,  in  which  she  was  personally  assailed,  were  followed  by 
sanguinary  punishments. 

fin  another  place,  however,  she  does  not  give  the  most  agree- 
able description  of  him.  She  says  in  her  Memoirs  (vol.  ii.  p.  350.,) 
"II  etait  plus  humain  et  plus  doux  dans  le  malheur  que  dans  la 
prosperity ;  il  ne  fuyait  pas  ceux  qui  lui  voulaient  parler  avec  la 

meme  secheresse Malgre  la  douceur  du  cardinal,  il  n'en  avait 

pas  souvent  dans  son  procede,  ni  meme  dans  ses  paroles:  elles 
etaient  quasi  toujours  seches,  et  fort  differentes  de  ses  promesses, 
qui  ne  produisaient  jamais,  ou  rarement,  de  bons  effets,  s'il  n'y  etait 
contraint  par  l'intrigue  des  pretendans:  ils  ont  quasi  toujours 
arrache  ses  bienfaits  de  sa  foiblesse  plutot  que  de  sa  bonte." 


214  LIFE  OF  CARDINAL    MAZAEIN. 

France.  It  must,  however,  be  remembered,  that,  sur- 
rounded with  difficulties,  opposed  by  factions,  and  im- 
peded by  civil  war,  under  his  administration  Alsace, 
Artois,  and  Roussillon  were  re-annexed  to  France ; 
that  a  way  was  laid  open  for  her  arms  into  Flanders, 
Germany,  and  Italy;  and  that  by  his  hand  was  won 
the  prize  for  which  Richelieu  had  begun  the  strife. 


THE  END. 


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